The Next Great Journey: Awakening
by alanvaladez
Summary: The Reaper's return was delayed; colonists are disappearing, and mysterious incidents are happening at random colonies all over the Galaxy. Are the two surviving Reapers of the battle of the Citadel behind this events? Or is it someone else? The SPECTRES, CERBERUS and the Alliance will have to find out and put an end to this. The sequel to The Next Great Journey.
1. Darkness's Mantle

**The Next Great Journey: Awakening**

 **A/N: That's right, this is a sequel to my previous story, The Next Great Journey. So, in that note, I recommend reading that one first, otherwise, some things on this story won't make any sense. Also, please read the A/N at the end of the chapter once you finish reading the chapter.**

 **Once again, I'll remind you readers that the year in the Systems Alliance Calendar is 2575, while the year in the Citadel Council Calendar is 2173.**

"Normal and holographic communication"

[Radio Communication]

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own any Halo or Mass Effect products; they belong to their respective owners.**

Chapter 1: Darkness's Mantle

 **January 10, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar;** **Horsehead Nebula, Unknown System,** _ **Kronos**_ **Station.**

A lone giant star sat in the middle of a system devoid of any planets and moons, its surface constantly in a battle for dominance between a passive blue and a furious red color. Currently the red was winning said battle, but not by much. Close to the star, a single station orbited, taking the star's radiation as a power supply while ships of multiple designs and classifications protected the station. Thousands of miles away, dozens of satellites in construction orbited the station, their purpose, once their construction was finished, being that of creating a stealth screen that will make the station invisible to anything but the most powerful of sensors in the galaxy.

Inside the station, a room overlooked the star, its light being reflected by the floor and ceiling of the room, giving an impression of emptiness to anyone who stepped inside. A single man and a floating sphere inhabited the room, both surrounded by multiple holographic screens showing information provided by the man's agents and surveillance drones distributed in the galaxy. Looking at one screen, 216-Redeemer turned to look at The Illusive Man with its single eye.

"It seems that the announcement given by the Citadel Council regarding the Geth has shaken immensely the citizens in Citadel Space" 216-Redeemer said. "There's reports of multiple protests in the inner colonies as well as some riots on the outer colonies within Citadel Space. What surprises me most, is the response by the Quarians to the news. It is interesting but not totally unexpected, considering their history."

After the Flood outbreak was contained on _Installation 06_ and _Kronos_ station's construction was finished, ONI transferred 216-Redeemer to _Kronos_ station as an extra security measure. Having the ancient AI helping with the systems of _Kronos_ will improve CERBERUS's capabilities to carry on their operations, as well as maintaining the AI's existence a secret from the rest of the galaxy.

"If you are referring to the small pockets of Quarians that want an alliance with the Geth, then I'm more surprised by the fact that they survived these last three-hundred years with those ideals" The Illusive Man responded while taking a smoke. "What I find more interesting is the fact that Jul M'Dama ordered the assassination of the Prophet of Vengeance and their Geth allies during the battle of the Citadel."

"It is a shame really. Millennia ago the San'Shyuum were considered one of the most advanced and wise species, especially with their alliance with humanity. To see a species with great potential being wasted during this new era saddens me."

"Yes, yes, the great galactic empire that the Human-San'Shyuum alliance had during the peak of the Forerunner empire, only for the Flood to destroy all of that" The Illusive Man interrupted. "I read the history lesson that you provided. And before you ask, the Alliance, in its current state, doesn't have the resources nor the time to embark in a search for our legacy as you call it. To do that, we'll have to get rid of this Reaper threat, obtain the Janus Key from the loyalists and find a way to stop the Guardians from causing more chaos on the colonies."

With that said, The Illusive Man changed the holographic screen to project the remains of _Argent Moon_ and the brief recording of the Guardian seen in Palamok. Meanwhile, 216-Redeemer projected the known locations of a Guardian related incident on the galaxy map.

"Any luck finding a pattern on the Guardian incidents?" The Illusive Man asked.

"Sadly, no. Though I have discovered that someone of my kind is trying to stop whoever it is that is behind these incidents. Unfortunately, it appears that she was discovered before being able to send me her location" 216-Redeemer said with what could be considered a frustrated tone.

"Don't you have a record of where every other monitor is currently at?"

"No, that would endanger the other Installations and shield words if we were captured by enemies of the Forerunners and the Reclaimers."

"Understandable" He said while putting his cigarette on the ashtray. "Thankfully, with the information provided by both, Crimson and Osiris, we may be able to discover another Guardian before it activates."

Changing the holographic projections to that of the remains of the Reapers on the Citadel, and of another derelict Reaper orbiting a dwarf star, 216-Redeemer looked at The Illusive Man, who was looking curiously at the AI.

"Seeing as there's nothing we can do, but wait, in regards to the Guardians, I'm curious to know what are your plans regarding the Reapers? Seeing as both, the Alliance and ONI, have given us the authority to dictate how to proceed against this new threat."

"We can't extract the remains on the Citadel, at least not without causing a political disagreement with the Council. Though, that may be to our advantage. We let the Council keep and study those remains, and improve their technology with that of the Reapers. Meanwhile, we'll send a team to study the intact derelict Reaper."

"That way, once the Reapers decide to make their move, the galaxy will be more prepared to deal with them" 216-Redeemer said approvingly before frowning, "Though, that will also improve the possibilities of success of the Citadel Council if they declare war against the Alliance."

"Don't worry too much about that, while it may improve their chances against us, it'll take them decades before they can present a real threat to the Alliance. And, if by some miracle they manage to master that technology, I already have agents within their scientific teams analyzing those remains. I give the order, and all that work will be for nothing" Seeing the inquisitive look directed his way, The Illusive Man elaborated, "All I did was to order them to make sure that we have a countermeasure against any new weapons that may come out of this."

"In that case, I'm happy to inform you that the derelict Reaper is secure for boarding. The Sentinels I sent already neutralized the passive indoctrination signal emanating from the ship. I still recommend a daily psychological test on any organics that board the ship and to not stay inside for more than eight continuous hours."

"Why wasn't I informed of this mission of yours?" The Illusive Man asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It didn't seem important at the time" 216-Redeemer responded merrily before changing the conversation theme, "What about Matriarch Benezia?"

"She's currently obtaining resources and trying to instigate a new training regimen for their commandos. If everything goes according to plan, then the Asari military will be more capable of holding off the Reapers once they commence their attacks."

Nodding at that, 216-Redeemer continued with his duties. Some minutes passed in silence, both sending orders to other CERBERUS cells or, in the case of 216-Redeemer, giving orders to his Sentinels distributed on the galaxy and in _Installation 06_. Suddenly, a holo-screen appeared in front of them, indicating an incoming transmission form the Citadel.

"Interesting. It seems that Garrus Vakarian is finally contacting you" 216-Redeemer said.

"Has the communication device confirmed his identity and that he is alone?"

"Affirmative, I'll put him on the main line" That was the last thing 216-Redeemer said before exiting the room.

Turning to the holographic projector, The Illusive Man sat in his chair, the giant red-blue star on the background, obscuring his features as a holographic representation of Garrus formed in front of him. Seeing the evident surprise on the Turian's face, The Illusive Man allowed himself a small smile before reassuming his emotionless mask.

"Good to see that you decided to put the communicator on" He said.

"What? Who…who are you?" Garrus responded surprised.

Drinking some wine from the glass on his chair, he responded, "For the moment call me, The Illusive Man. And you and I, Garrus Vakarian, have much to discuss."

The Illusive Man may be many things to the citizens of the galaxy, but to all of those few who knew him, they agreed that the man was a master of dramatic theatrics.

 **January 8, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar;** **Napret Nebula, Close to Napret System, Phantom in route to** _ **Argent Moon**_ **.**

In the darkness of space, a Phantom dropship passed through a small asteroid field, where the derelict ONI ship floated aimlessly. Outside the asteroid field, the UNSC _Infinity_ , alongside the CPV Destroyer _Tarq'lin_ and the CCS Battlecruiser _Queen's Wrath_ , kept over-watch on the system as well as, _Argent Moon_. Because of the recent Guardian incident on Palamok and the territorial nature of the Yanme'e, the Yanme'e Queen had insisted on two of her defense ships accompanying the _Infinity_ on her mission to recuperate _Argent Moon_. Stating in the process that this was also in Yanme'e interests to prevent any more Guardian incidents in other Yanme'e colonies. The fact that the operation is taking within inner Yanme'e space also made ONI agree to the request, though with the condition that the ships and its crews followed _Infinity's_ orders and that only those who saw and knew what really happened during the incident were aboard said ships.

Inside the Phantom, Crimson and Halictidae teams readied themselves for the upcoming boarding. The two Spartan IV's of Crimson checked their armor, making sure to have everything in order, meanwhile, the single Sangheili of the team, and the Spartan II revised their weapons and ammunition packages. On the other hand, Halictidae team, a four Yanme'e special forces team, revised that their exo-suits were sealed correctly and that the small jets worked properly in case they were forced to fight in space.

"All right people" Axel, the leader of Crimson team, said as he activated the holographic projector of the Phantom, "seeing as we have more companions than initially expected, I'll go through the debrief again."

Hearing those words, Halictidae team payed close attention to the more detailed briefing than the one they received aboard the _Queen's Wrath_. Seeing the Yanme'e paying attention, Axel changed the holo-projector to show the schematics of _Argent Moon_ before continuing.

"Our primary objective is to extract Singapore from the bridge of the ship, securing the ship is a secondary objective" At Axel's words, _Argent Moon_ 's bridge highlighted in green. "Seeing as the bridge section is in complete lockdown, we'll have to make our way through the cargo bay to access the maintenance corridor to get to the engineering deck. Once there, we cut the power to the bridge's security systems, that will deactivate the lockdown. After that, we make our way to the bridge. Also, according to ONI, the ship was boarded by hostile Promethean forces more advanced than the ones encountered in Requiem, so expect trouble."

Changing the holo-projector to show five variations of the Promethean forces, Axel went into quick detail on each of them, Halictidae team paying close attention all the time. A few minutes passed before the pilot of the Phantom announced that they were about to board _Argent Moon_.

The Phantom approached one of the observation windows of _Argent Moon_ , the side with the docking tube facing the window. Stopping close the window, the Phantom deployed the docking tube, hitting the window and destroying it completely. Immediately after, the docking tube extended an energy shield, covering the area that the window used to be in before the room decompressed itself.

Inside the Phantom, the lights turned green once the docking tube was properly secured. Both, Crimson and Halictidae teams, coming out of the tube before dispersing through the room; Crimson team securing the first floor while Halictidae team secured the second floor.

[Clear] John-117, Crimson-4, said.

A few seconds later, Halictidae-1 said, [Second floor, we have a body.]

Using their armor jetpacks, Crimson went to the second floor through the small balcony overlooking the room under it. Spotting Halictidae-1 and 3 near the body, Axel and John-117 made their way to them while Sarx and Blackburn helped the other two members of Halictidae guard the room.

"What do we have here?" Axel asked.

"Human, female; she seems to have been killed a few hours ago. The hard-light bullet is still inside her body, slowly disintegrating her from the inside" Halictidae-3 replied after finishing her scan of the remains of the body.

"That's not normal" John-117 said, "besides the Binary rifle, Incineration canon and Scattershot, no other hand wielded Promethean gun disintegrates their target, specially this slowly."

"That's what I thought" Halictidae-3 responded, "so I went further in my scans. It appears that the hard-light bullet was fired from a Lightrifle, tough the composition of the bullet is more unstable than those of your standard lightrifles."

"So we got new Prometheans forces and modified weapons to deal with" Axel said, "Alright people, we are moving. Check your corners and keep an eye open for anything suspicious; Halictidae team, you keep an eye ahead of us from the sky, Sarx, you got point."

Moving towards a panel on the wall, Sarx activated the door control that connected the balcony to a wide corridor. Storm rifle at the ready, Sarx moved on ahead followed by the rest of Crimson, with Halictidae team flying close to the roof of the corridor, Needlers and Needler rifles at the ready. The corridor was filled up with multiple barriers made of boxes, flipped tables and the occasional metal debris of the corridor's walls. Behind the makeshift barriers, multiple M6G Magnums and Plasma Pistols laid on the floor alongside the remains of _Argent Moon_ 's crew.

Arriving at the end of the corridor, Sarx activated the elevators that connected the corridor to the cargo bay. Once both elevators arrived, each team took one to go down, not one team noticing the small object attached to the wall that flashed red before turning off. Going down the elevators, both teams saw various containers, alongside some vehicles and small space ships, which were on flames, on the cargo bay and between these, many trench positions filled with a few bodies.

"Seems like the crew put up a fight" Sarx commented.

"I don't like this" Blackburn responded, "since we boarded the ship, there hasn't been any signs of activity. I don't know about you guys, but I smell a trap."

"Just keep your eyes open Blackburn and you'll be fine" Axel responded.

Silence reigned in the elevators after that, and a few seconds later, the elevators arrived at their destination. Exiting the elevators, both teams moved in the same formation as in the corridor. Spotting runways two stories up on each side of the cargo bay, Halictidae team moved up there, two members of their team on each runway.

A few yards in front of Crimson team, the barrel of a rifle could be seen exiting through the window of a small office. The rifle lighted up with red lights, a few seconds later, the shooter opened fire. The rifle shot a beam of concentrated hard-light at its target, the Spartan II taking the shot to his helmet. As soon as the constant beam of hard-light hit his shields, John-117 activated his armor's thrusters, moving quickly to the side to get behind cover. Not soon after, multiple Prometheans started to teleport all around the cargo bay. Unlike the Didact and the Librarian's Promethean forces, these Prometheans were covered in black armor with red highlights made of hard-light, wielding weapons of similar designs.

[We got contacts!] Axel said while taking cover, [Halictidae team, take care of that sniper. Sarx, Blackburn give them some covering fire. Chief, you okay?]

[Just a burn mark in the armor sir, nothing more.] John said as his shields started to recharge.

Halictidae team moved quickly through the runaways, using their armor thrusters to fly quickly towards the direction of their target. Halfway through the runway, a Promethean, classified as Soldier, materialized in front of them with a Boltshot at the ready. Moving quickly to the sides, the two Yanme'e evaded the incoming Boltshot fire, which appeared to have some tracking capabilities like that of their Needlers. Both returned fire with their Needlers and Needle rifle, the Soldier taking a few hits which promptly exploded, taking his shields. The soldier teleported away after quickly throwing a grenade at the two Yanme'e, only to reappear behind them and continue his assault. Though, as soon as the soldier reappeared, he took a direct hit from an SRS99 Anti-Material rifle, also known simply as the Sniper rifle. The shot took a big chunk out of the Soldier's armor, exposing its core to the Yanme'e, who promptly opened fire at the core, killing the Soldier in a Needler explosion, as the grenade exploded behind them.

Downstairs, Blackburn swapped his Sniper rifle for his DMR, firing at a few Crawlers who were trying to flank him and Sarx. Sarx, on the other hand, was using his Storm rifle to keep a few more Soldiers at bay, all the while staying behind cover to not get hit by the enemy sniper fire. Both members of Crimson were soon accompanied by their remaining two members, both Spartans taking cover behind some crates before opening fire with their Assault and Battle rifles. The Soldiers for their part, utilized their teleporting abilities to move around the cargo bay, some of them teleporting directly behind Crimson, while others engaged Halictidae in the runways.

Taking down the last of the Soldiers in the Runways, Halictidae made it to the entrance of the office from which the Promethean sniper was taking cover. Taking positions on the sides and above the door, they opened the door before throwing a fragmentation grenade inside, as soon as the explosion was heard, the four Yanme'e entered the office to finish off the malfunctioning Soldier.

"H-2, take that Binary rifle and open fire on their forces" Halictidae-1 said, "H-3, you cover the entrance."

Downstairs, John took a few more hits from a Soldier before managing to take it down for good, only for another Soldier to teleport behind him, hard-light knife at the ready. Noticing the sudden movement in his motion sensor, John used his Assault rifle to block the incoming knife, only for the rifle to get bisected in two. Not even a second latter, John had his pistol out shooting at the Soldier point blank in the face while holding the Soldier's arm, preventing him from using the knife. Seven shots latter and the Soldier was down, close by, another Soldier trying to flank him, got taken out by the Binary rifle.

[Good shot H-2] John said utilizing his helmet's systems to recognize the Yanme'e using the Binary rifle. [Sir, the sniper has been taken out, Halictidae team is providing sniper fire, over.]

[Understood] Axel responded, [Alright people, lets finish off these bastards.]

The four members of Crimson exited their cover, firing their weapons at the remaining Crawlers and Soldiers. Spotting a Light Rifle, John took it alongside the few ammunition magazines scattered around it. Minutes later and the few Crawlers left on the battle were destroyed, leaving two Soldiers to fight off the Alliance's forces. A few more seconds passed with Crimson advancing on the Soldiers before one of them got taken out, the remaining one, after seeing his partner dematerialize, teleported out of the cargo bay before the Spartans and Yanme'e teams could take him out as well.

"Status report" Axel said as Halictidae team made its way towards Crimson's position.

"Halictidae is good and ready sir" H-1 said.

"Crimson as well sir" Sarx said.

Nodding at them, Axel lead the teams towards the service elevator in the far end of the cargo bay. Once there, he activated said elevator, taking them two decks further down. Back in the cargo bay, the remaining survivor Soldier reappeared on the destroyed office. Connecting himself to one of the few terminals that survived the firefight, the Soldier sent a transmission.

[Enemy forces have taken the bait. Eight hostile contacts confirmed inside _Argent Moon_. Species number H-32451, designation: Homo Sapiens, three contacts. Species number S-65897, designation: Macto Cognatus, one contact. Species number Y-69112, designation: Turpis Rex, four contacts. Three hostile ships orbiting _Argent Moon_. Designations: unknown. Requesting reinforcements to eliminate hostiles] The Soldier transmitted in a fraction of a second.

[Confirmed. Sending reinforcements.]

With the exchange done, the AI disconnected itself from the terminal, teleporting soon after towards their secondary ambush position.

 **January 8, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar;** **Napret Nebula, Close to Napret System, UNSC** _ **Infinity**_ **.**

"Admiral, a short transmission just came out of _Argent Moon_ " Hades, the _Infinity_ 's AI said.

"Was it from our teams?" Lasky asked.

"Negative, the frequency and code is different from the one used by the Alliance. I assume that it is Forerunner in origin, though the transmission was extremely short for me to properly identify it."

"Understood, keep me informed in any other anomalies that happen" Lasky said before turning to the only Spartan in the command center. "Commander Palmer, what's the status of our teams?"

"Both, Crimson and Halictidae are currently on the service corridor moving towards Engineering. It appears that they had a small firefight on the cargo bay, but besides that, there hasn't been any more hostile contacts" Sara Palmer responded while looking at the holo-projector.

Nodding at her, Lasky moved to another terminal to look at the data of the transmission. Meanwhile, the holo-projector that Sara was looking at showed the schematics of _Argent Moon_ , with both teams being shown as two blue arrows in one of the many corridors of the ship. Further down the corridor, multiple yellow dots with an unknown designation appeared in what was the Engineering deck. Typing some commands into the terminal, Sara changed those yellow contacts to hostiles as well as any other contacts with the same characteristics.

[Crimson be advised, I'm detecting multiple contacts in the Engineering deck] Sara said.

[Understood Commander] Axel responded.

Looking back at the Admiral, Sara saw him looking at some data alongside Hades. Curious to what they were looking at, she approached them, noticing that Lasky frowned the further he looked at the data shown to him.

"…inform the _Tarq'lin_ and _Queen's Wrath_ about this" Sara heard Lasky say, "Also, put the battlegroup in alert. If anything that isn't supposed to be on the system appears, you give me targeting solutions on it."

"Something wrong?" Sara asked.

"Not for certain. What's the status on our teams?"

Sara looked at Lasky, analyzing his expression before replying, "They are currently securing Engineering."

Nodding at her, Lasky moved to the holo-projector, motioning Sara to follow him. Once there, Lasky changed the projection to that of the system. The hologram showing the three Alliance ships alongside the derelict _Argent Moon_ , with the far side of the system showing two anomalies with their time of detection, and between the Alliance's position and the anomalies', another pair appeared with a different time.

"A few minutes ago Hades detected this pair of anomalies" Lasky said while pointing at the pair of anomalies on the far side of the system, "this was detected just after the transmission we detected was sent" at this he pointed at the closer anomalies.

"Do you want me to put Majestic on alert?" Sara asked.

"No, I want you to prepare a quick way out for both our teams in _Argent_ , just in case things get, complicated."

Before Sara could respond, the ship shook, its shields becoming briefly visible. Soon after, two grey ships with red highlights appeared in the visible spectrum, multiple Phaetons and other small crafts leaving them to start their attack on the Alliance's ships.

"Hades! Tell the battlegroup to deploy all the fighters" Lasky said while getting back on his feet, "we need to keep the enemy away from _Argent Moon_."

Nodding, the AI sent the order to the ships, soon after, MAC rounds and plasma torpedoes were in their way to the two Forerunner ships. Utilizing the information obtained in the Arc, Hades managed to identify one of the ships as a frigate, while the other one as a light destroyer. The two Forerunner ships responded the fire with their particle canons, with most of their fire focusing on the _Infinity_ and the _Queen's Wrath_.

Between the opposing ships, Phaetons and Despair-class fighters engaged Sabres, Broadswords and Banshees in a fierce dogfight. The Phaetons utilizing their maneuverability to their advantage to evade missiles and situate behind the Alliance's fighters, while the Despair fighters utilized their fast speeds to their full efficiency. The Alliance's ships on the other hand utilized their heavier weaponry to take out the Forerunner ships as quickly as possible. Flying in pairs, they covered each other while Banshees utilized their quick speeds to distract the enemy or support their companions.

A pair of Sabres made their way towards some Despair fighters targeting the decks in _Argent Moon_. The Despair fighters fired their missiles at the ship's hull, the photon explosions tearing apart parts of the hull, exposing decks and corridors to the vacuum of space. Before the Forerunner fighters could inflict more damage, the two Sabres opened fire with their two 30-mm canons, taking the Despair fighters shields out before following it with four medusa missiles.

Taking notice of their two destroyed companions, the other three Despair fighters quickly turned around to face the two Sabres, opening fire with their energy weaponry. One of the Sabres shields quickly gave out to the onslaught, taking direct damage to its hull and thrusters, the Sabre crashed into _Argent Moon_ 's hull. The other Sabre was luckier; utilizing the design of the research ship to its advantage, the pilot managed to evade the incoming fire long enough to position herself behind one of the Despair fighters. Firing a total of eight medusa missiles, followed by the 30-mm canon, one of the Despair fighters was destroyed while another one crashed in the ship's hull while trying to evade the incoming fire and crashing into its companions. The remaining Despair fighter opened a slip-space portal in front of it, only to reappear right behind the Sabre pilot, energy weapons at the ready.

Decelerating the Sabre and performing an aileron roll, she managed to put her fighter behind and to the right side of the Despair fighter. Immediately firing her remaining medusa missiles, the Despair fighter opened another slip-space portal, only for the missiles to follow the fighter into the portal. As the portal closed, an explosion could be seen inside the portal. With the imminent threat dealt with, she returned to the _Infinity_ to refuel the Sabre's ammunition.

Meanwhile, a squadron consisting of six Banshees directed eight of the enemy fighters within the range of the _Infinity's_ defense systems, the ship in turn utilizing its Scythe and Fortress point defense turrets to take out the eight enemy fighters. Multiple Rapier missiles followed soon after towards the Forerunner destroyer, which in turn utilized its own defense guns to take out most of the missiles, though they did nothing to stop the incoming plasma torpedoes from the _Tarq'lin._ Reorienting itself, the destroyer opened fire on the _Tarq'lin_ , the overwhelming firepower, in combination with the Forerunner's frigate, quickly taking out the ship's shields, and soon after, the _Tarq'lin_ was engulfed in a bright explosion.

The other two Alliance's ships continued their assault on the two Forerunner ships, their intention that of getting vengeance on their fallen ally. Maneuvering their ships, both Alliance's ships managed to get to the flanks of the Forerunner formation for a complete broadside attack.

 **January 8, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar;** **Napret Nebula, Close to Napret System,** _ **Argent Moon**_ **.**

The research ship shook as the bombardment from Phaetons and Despair ships continued, combined with the multiple debris of fighters crashing into the ship. Already multiple decks were exposed to the vacuum of space, while the few remaining bodies of the once crew of _Argent Moon_ where showing signs of initial freezing. With all the chaos that was happening outside, Crimson and Halictidae made their way towards the ship's bridge. Having secured Engineering and cutting the power to the bridge's security systems, both teams had taken one of the nearby elevators, which took them one deck bellow the bridge. All that was left was to arrive at the ship's main elevator and access the bridge.

Taking cover behind one of the mess hall tables, John waited for the frag grenade to explode. Looking behind him, he watched Halictidae team covering Crimson's back, while the opposite was also true. Both teams had entered the mess hall only to spring another Forerunner ambush, though this time the cover was limited. Having set up a quick and hasty barricade using tables, chairs and everything else that they could find, Crimson and Halictidae were pinned down by the Forerunner forces attacking from the front and behind them.

With the Forerunner forces utilizing their teleportation abilities and watchers deploying energy shields for their troops. In response, Crimson and Halictidae alternated their fire, one team firing at the enemy on both sides while the other reloaded their weapons behind cover.

Hearing the grenade explode, Blackburn activated his small drone, sending it into the enemy formation. The drone was a standard issue for any sniper in the Alliance, being equipped with two 20-mm turrets and four small missiles, the drone served more as a surveillance drone than an attack drone. Utilizing both of its rotors, situated on the left and right side of its body, the drone ascended as close to the roof as it could, utilizing the grenade's smoke of the explosion as cover.

[Drone's up and ready] Blackburn said.

[Understood] Axel responded, [Halictidae, once the drone commences its assault, deploy your portable energy shields and then help us take out the Soldiers on our side. Once that's done we focus on the Soldiers on your side.]

[Understood] H-1 said.

Nodding at Blackburn, the Spartan-IV directed the drone to commence its attack. Seconds later, a pair of missiles exploded within the enemies' ranks, followed soon after by the 20-mm canons and both teams' firepower. With the initial missiles disrupting the Soldier's sensors, they didn't had time to respond to the oncoming assault which promptly destroyed them. Noticing the tactic used, the Soldiers on the other side moved back towards the corridor, firing at the teams as they went.

[Sir, they are retreating] H-3 said as she fired her Needlers at the retreating Forerunners.

A few seconds passed with both sides exchanging fire until one of the walls in the mess hall suddenly exploded, destroying the drone in the process. With the wall destroyed, the room was exposed to the vacuum of space, decompression taking place almost immediately. Both teams were pulled out of the room, forcing them to utilize their armor jets to stabilize themselves. With the lack of gravity, the Soldiers entered the remains of the mess hall, utilizing their magnetic boots to stay on the ship while firing at the floating Alliance soldiers.

Taking cover behind the debris of the once wall, both Crimson and Halictidae waited for their energy shields to recharge while keeping an eye out for any enemy fighters. Meanwhile, back in the remains of the mess hall, a Knight entered to room, which the remaining Soldiers were using to fire at the Alliance soldiers. Reading its hard-light knife, the Knight teleported to Crimson's position, forcing the Spartans to quickly move into the Soldier's fire. Halictidae on the other hand, utilized the brief distraction to come out of their cover and take out the remining Soldiers before they took out the Spartans.

Utilizing their armor jets, Halictidae passed above the Soldier's position, leaving behind multiple plasma grenades attached to the enemies' bodies. The plasma explosion being enough to take out most of the Soldiers, though the few remaining ones were quickly taken out by Halictidae's weapons. Back with Crimson, they utilized their armor thrusters to put distance between them and the Scattershot wielding Knight. Aiming at one of the two cores on the Knight's shoulders, H-3 fired her scavenged Binary rifle, taking the core out immediately. The knight in response commanded its armor to protect and cover its secondary core, utilizing the armor that resided behind the destroyed core.

[Halictidae, move to the bridge and extract Singapore. We'll keep the Knights occupied] Axel said as he opened fire on the damaged Knight, while another one materialized close to the wall's debris.

The two Knights, one equipped with the Scattershot while the other one with a Lightrifle, fired at the four Spartans, forcing them to get further away from the ship's hull. Utilizing their teleportation capabilities, the two Knights constantly kept the Spartans moving further into the fighter's firefight. The Spartans in turn fired at the Knights whenever they appeared, two of them focusing on one Knight at a time.

Switching to his Sniper rifle, Blackburn waited for the Knight to reappear, once the Knight appeared, Blackburn shot it on the armor protecting is secondary core. The armor gave apart to the powerful shot. With the core exposed it took another shot from Blackburn to destroy it and expose its final core on the Knight's back. Seeing the opportunity, Sarx utilized his Carbine to finish the Knight. Meanwhile, John and Axel weren't fairing so good against the fully armored Knight, both utilizing their pistols as their ammunition to their primary weapons had ran out a while ago.

Teleporting in front of Axel, the Knight attacked him with its hard-light knife. The hit taking out Axel's energy shields and managing to briefly cut his armor, tough not enough to be exposed to space. Before the Knight could attack again, John slammed his body against the Knight, pushing it into the fighters' firefight. The knight opened its mask in anger at being interrupted, showing its skull like face while aiming its Lightrifle. Suddenly, a missile hit the Knight, destroying two of its cores in the explosion before 30-mm canon fire finished the Knight off.

[Seemed like you could use the assistance Crimson] The pilot said.

[Thanks for the assist] John responded, [remind me to buy you a beer.]

[I'll hold you to that Spartan] with that the pilot moved away from the team, promptly engaging a Phaeton in a dogfight.

Looking at Axel, John saw him nod, indicating that he was fine and ready to move. Both regrouped with their other two team members back in the ship, promptly entering the corridor that connected them to the ship's bridge. The door was already open, with Halictidae team inside securing Singapore, who was still in stasis.

"Any problems?" Axel asked.

"Negative" H-1 said, "the package is secured and ready for extraction."

Nodding at them, the teams were about to exit the bridge until the doors closed themselves and a red light illuminated the bridge. Looking at one of the functioning screens, both teams saw that the security lockdown was active again, as well as the self-destruct function of the ship's reactor, a function utilized by all ships of ONI as a security measure in case the ship is completely lost to enemy hands.

Soon after, Crawlers, Watchers and Soldiers materialized on the bridge; their intention that of preventing both teams from escaping alive from the ship.

[This is Crimson to _Infinity_ command; we need immediate extraction. The security lockdown is active alongside the reactor's self-destruction. We are pinned down by enemy forces on the ship's bridge, over] Axel said as he fired his pistol at some Crawlers.

[Crimson, a Phantom is on its way, T-minus 60 seconds. I suggest to get away from the bridge's door, over]

Looking at both teams, Axel held one finger up before continuing shooting at the Promethean forces. One minute later, the door to the bridge exploded inwards, a bright green explosion covering the back side of the bridge, killing all the Promethean forces unfortunate enough to be within the explosion's radius. Once the smoke cleared, a Phantom awaited on what once was the corridor to the bridge. Turning to the side, an Unggoy in the plasma turret opened fire on the remaining Prometheans, giving Crimson and Halictidae the opportunity to get on the Phantom.

With both teams aboard, the Phantom moved away from _Argent Moon_ , which was already suffering multiple explosions from the inside. Not out of danger yet, Blackburn and John picked up a Spartan Laser from one of the Phantom's compartments. Aiming behind the Phantom, both started to shoot at the Phaetons and Despair fighters that managed to get past the escorts.

A Despair fighter managed to get behind the Phantom, after the two AIs before him were destroyed by the plasma and laser fire. Getting a targeting lock on the Phantom, the Despair fired two missiles before it was destroyed by one of the many Sabres. Deploying many flares in response, the Phantom managed to make one of the missiles impact one of the flares, though the other one managed to impact the Phantom's thrusters. With its thruster damaged, the Phantom barely managed to stabilize itself long enough to make it into the _Infinity_ 's hangar, though it crash-landed. Crewmen immediately went to aid the ship's occupants, noticing how they were getting out almost unharmed by the landing.

 **XXXXX**

Back on the _Infinity_ 's bridge, Lasky watched in the tactical holo-projector as the Forerunner frigate exploded, soon after, the ship's sensors indicated that the Forerunner Destroyer's shields were down. Seizing the opportunity, both, the Infinity-class ship and the Battlecruiser approached the destroyer, MAC and plasma fire tearing down the ship's armor. Said armor shifted itself around the ship, reinforcing itself were the AIs aboard predicted the enemy shots to hit.

The impacts shook the destroyer, causing several breaches on its hull. With both Alliance ships approaching for a second broadside attack, the Forerunner ship opened a Slip-space portal, exiting the system. With the mothership out of the system, the Phaetons and Despair fighters remaining on the system self-destructed, and in the background, the reactor of _Argent Moon_ exploded as well, destroying the research ship.

"Hades" Lasky said, "give me a status report."

"We have breaches in multiple decks. Also, the archer missiles pods in sector four-seven are damaged alongside two of our MACs, we'll need to repair them. The _Queen's Wrath_ seems to have one of its thrusters inoperable and its slip-space drive was damaged during the fight. We'll have to anchor the ship to us once we enter slip-space."

"Noted. Set a course to Palamok and inform the Yanme'e Queen that we are on our way back for reparations" Sighting, Lasky turned to look at Palmer, who was looking at the report that Crimson gave her a few minutes ago. "Tell Crimson to take Singapore to Dr. Glassman for reactivation."

Nodding, Sara sent the message to Crimson before exiting the bridge to check on the teams once they got back to the Spartan deck. With his orders being acted upon, Lasky looked at the observation window, seeing the familiar blue and black with hints of purple singularity appear in front of the ship. With the Battlecruiser anchored to the _Infinity_ , both ships made their way into the portal.

 **January 10, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar;** **Horsehead Nebula, Unknown System,** _ **Kronos**_ **Station.**

The Illusive Man drank from his glass filled of wine, which had been refilled at least twice in the past half hour. Once the initial shock had worn out of the Turian's face, the suspicious and accusing looks came directed his way. Nothing unexpected and something that he was ready to deal with. Appealing to Garrus' sense of honor and justice, The Illusive Man managed to make Garrus understand that CERBERUS wasn't as bad as he initially thought. Tough it took showing various pieces of evidence from his part.

"So let me get this straight as you Humans say" Garrus said, "you want me to join CERBERUS. Though my, missions, for lack of a better word, will be things that C-Sec already makes me do." He finished with a deadpan expression.

Putting his glass of wine down, The Illusive Man responded, "Not entirely. While CERBERUS will help you in your investigations for C-Sec; we want in exchange for you to be our ears and eyes in the Citadel, especially with the team that is analyzing the remains of the Reapers. Besides that, we will send you to other field missions around the galaxy. Don't worry, it'll be nothing that will clash with your morals, in the contrary, these missions will help the galaxy to be readier once the Reapers decide to attack."

After the explanation, Garrus' face erased all signs of worry that he had at the meaning of those words. Looking at the reflective floor of the station, Garrus frowned, thinking, at the last part said. Finally looking up, he asked.

"What makes you think that they'll come? We already defeated them during the battle of the Citadel."

"While that's partially true, I assure you that they will come. The result of the battle of the Citadel only delayed the Reaper's plans, and don't forget that two Reapers are still around in the galaxy."

Sighting in defeat, Garrus said after a few seconds, "Alright, I'm in. What do you need me to do?"

"We already got you into the security detail of the scientists studying the Reaper's remains. Your job will be to report everything that happens and that you see during the study. Also, find a way to make everyone involved with the research of those remains, be it security or scientist, take daily psychological evaluations. We have suspicions that the Reapers can control and influence the minds of organics" Taking a smoke, The Illusive Man showed Garrus the psychological results of one of the victims of Sovereign's indoctrination. "We aren't sure if that particular skill is passive or not, but unless you want to risk the lives of everyone close to those remains, I recommend you to follow my advice."

Wide eyed at the revelation, Garrus could only nod as he kept looking through the report.

"One more thing; one of my agents will contact you within the next twenty-four hours. He'll give you a packet, inside will be some equipment that you'll need."

With that, The Illusive Man cut the transmission. Putting the remains of his cigar on the ashtray, he looked at the star, thinking of what was to come. Standing from his chair, he walked closer to the observation window, opening a holographic screen in front of him as he went. The information of the screen showed the reports of his agents in the Terminus Systems, telling everything from the daily goings on Omega, to attacks by pirates.

Of all the reports, two things stood out, one being that the two surviving Reapers went through the Omega-4 Relay, which his teams haven't been successful yet in finding where it went. The second thing being of how the Batarians responded at seeing the footage of the Battle of the Citadel. According to his agents' reports, the Batarians referred to the Reapers as Leviathans, further down in the report, it explained that the Leviathans were creatures of legends that resembled the Reapers and wielded unknown power. The report also said that there were rumors of one being found within Batarian territory decades ago. Though the Hegemony dismissed those claims as simple urban rumors.

Sending a message, The Illusive Man waited a few minutes before the holographic forms of Miranda Lawson and Kai Leng appeared in the room. Turning to look at them, he sent them the report about the Leviathan before saying.

"I want you two to look into these rumors, see if there is any truth to them" he ignited another cigar before continuing, "I'll provide you two with a small prowler and the necessary equipment for the operation."

"Understood. What are our orders if the rumors result to be truth?" Kai Leng asked as Miranda looked through the data.

"Determine if this, Leviathan, is a potential ally or an enemy. If the latter is true, then send all available information to ONI, they'll know what to do. If it's a potential ally, then find a way to put it in contact with the Alliance" Seeing them nod, he added before cutting the transmission, "One more thing, don't cause any unnecessary problems within Batarian space. They may not look it, but they already suspect that we are under the Alliance's wing, one mistake and they can become our enemies instead of our allies."

"Understood." Miranda said as both, her and Kai Leng, disconnected the line.

With nothing urgent to do, The Illusive Man was about to retire to his quarters until 216-Redeemer came back into the room. Its single eye flashing red in anger before returning to its calm cyan blue. Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, The Illusive Man asked the AI what was wrong.

"I just got multiple reports of small ships detected at the edges of the Alliance's frontier. The scans match those of the Reaper's fighters, though once they are detected, or a ship is on its way to investigate, they enter FTL."

"I see" The Illusive Man said frowning, "It might be time to deploy the Enforcers at the edge of our territory. I'm sure that we can also spare some refueling and observation stations."

"I was thinking the same thing, though I'll also deploy some Watchers alongside the Enforcers."

With that, The Illusive Man sent a final report to the director of ONI and a request to the Alliance for some refueling and observations station to aid the Enforcers and Watchers.

 **January 7, 2173, Citadel Council Calendar;** **Galactic Core, Edge of the Accretion Disk, Collector Base.**

The massive black hole that made the center of the Milky Way galaxy showed a magnificent display of power on the background. Consuming anything that got close enough to its gravitational field, it was a wonder that a single station, surrounded by the debris of multiple ships from all ages and designs, orbited the black hole without succumbing to its gravitational field. On the far edge of the core, just outside of the ships' debris, a single relay orbited, this one emitting a brilliant red color.

The relay shined brightly for a moment, and then, two ships came out of it. Both ships had a similar design, pitch black armor with an octopus or arachnid like design to them, but that's as far as their similitudes went. One of the ships was a two-kilometer long flagship, while the other one was barely a destroyer, measuring hundred and sixty meters in length. Showing signs of a recent battle, both ships made their way to the base, this one in turn opening one of its docking bays for the two Reapers. Once inside, various Collectors started working on the reparations of the ships' hulls.

With their reparations going smoothly, the Reapers opened a channel to their leader.

[Harbinger, Sovereign's plan has failed alongside the plan to obtain the Loyalist Covenant as our allies. He, alongside four other Reapers were destroyed by the Covenant and the Alliance. If we do not act now, then the Citadel species will manage to reverse engineer our technology.]

[While that will be troublesome] Harbinger responded [it will only delay the inevitable. Help the Collectors increase the rate of their abductions. Also, if the opportunity presents itself, seize any form of military technology from the Alliance or the Covenant. Find a way to incorporate it into our systems. Finally, look for any form of improving the use of energy shields to use them as a secondary layer above our kinetic barriers.] With its orders given, Harbinger disconnected the line.

Passing the given orders to the Collectors, the two Reapers looked at the galactic database of colonized planets that the Collectors had identified through their active time. Finding a single green planet with a mid-sized population and a light defense force at the edge of the Terminus Systems, the two Reaper and the Collectors prepared themselves for the operation.

Approximately twenty kiloparsecs away from the galactic core, lay nothing but dark space and the once dormant Reaper armada. With the Milky Way Galaxy five kiloparsecs away from their position, the Reapers started to make their way towards it. Their purpose that of continuing the cycle so the current species can be preserved, giving place to new species that will flourish on the galaxy once again.

 **Unknown Calendar; Unknown location.**

Inside uncharted space within the Milky Way Galaxy, a small solar system consisting of four planets, three terrestrial and a single Jovian one, laid silently, waiting for its discovery. A small ship could be seen making its way out of the second planet; said planet consisted of a single landmass surrounded by water, though, close to the planet's poles, the water was of a green color instead of blue. The planet had many cities on the landmass and the gigantic ocean, with big skyscrapers and some underwater buildings. One of these cities being the one that the ship came from. The small transport deployed a satellite that resembled a big antenna while two suited beings came out of the transport to help set up the satellite, and make sure that it was working properly.

 **A/N: PLEASE READ. As you can tell already, this story will focus on the events of Halo 5 Guardians, Mass effect 2, with many twist of my own for both of course, and another arc or two of my own creation. Also, per the results of the poll that I put on the prequel to this story, Cortana WILL stay dead.**

 **Furthermore, I am sure that some of you are wondering why I didn't name the members of Halictidae team, besides calling them by their designations, i.e. H-1. The reason is simple, there are no official known names of any Yanme'e in the Halo universe, and what I investigated suggest that they don't give too much importance to names, thus the lack of names in their part. You will also see this happening throughout the story, with a few exceptions, though those will be because someone else named that Yanme'e.**

 **Another thing, PAY close attention to the dates provided as some events take place before the events of a previous chapter and/or section of the chapter. For example, the opening scene takes place 3 days after the battle of the Citadel, which is when Garrus contacts CERBERUS, while the mission on** _ **Argent Moon**_ **takes place 1 day after the battle of the Citadel.**

 **Finally, I have two important announcements:**

 **I'm looking for a Beta reader that can check on my grammar and punctuation, as well as the general plot and outline of the story (or what I have planned so far) my objective being that of taking into consideration new ideas for some events of the story. If you are interested, PM me. In the meantime, I'll try to polish the chapters as much as I can before I upload them.**

 **I'm in college now, so my updating schedule will vary, it could take me a few days-months to update this story, though I'll try to update every 3-4 weeks. Also, because of this, I'll try to make every chapter of at least 8+ thousand words, not counting author notes, with a few exceptions. Those exceptions will mostly be "filler" chapters.**

 **Thanks for the support! Please review, criticism, good or bad, helps me in improving the story and polishing it.**


	2. Clues

**The Next Great Journey: Awakening**

 **A/N: Once again, I'll remind you readers that the year in the Systems Alliance Calendar is: 2575, while the year in the Citadel Council Calendar is: 2173.**

 **Many thanks to my co-Author for betaing this story. His inputs and overall help are much appreciated.**

"Normal and holographic communication"

" _Thoughts."_

[Radio Communication]

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own any Halo or Mass Effect products; they belong to their respective owners.**

Chapter 2: Clues

 **January 9, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar;** **Reincarnation System,** ** _Arcturus_** **Station.**

 _Arcturus_ station, the hub of civilization within the Systems Alliance territory; its purpose being the same as its counterpart, the _Citadel_. While both stations served the same purpose, that's as far as their similarities went. Preferring a more hexagonal with rounded edges look, _Arcturus_ was considerably smaller than the _Citadel_ , though more luxurious and heavily defended. The station housed a population of approximately one-hundred-thousand people, most of them being tourists. Many high-ranking officials also called this place home.

It was in this station that the Batarian ambassador, Kasin Pas'boprak, worked as the liaison between the Hegemony's and the Alliance's affairs. Being the liaison between the two governments was not an easy task, especially with the big difference in culture and government that both powers had, which often lead to various disagreements. Making his way towards the conference room, he spotted many politicians and ambassadors from different species, none of them making an impression on him. Two of his eyes blinked. No, what was more intriguing was the urgency with which the Alliance President wanted to meet with. The negotiation of a new treaty, one that seemingly benefitted his kind a great deal, being the reason of the meeting.

Passing through a weapons detector without any problems, Kasin Pas'boprak utilized his issued ID to gain access to the conference room, noting that his picture appeared on the terminal's display as he went inside. The room was decorated with pictures and paintings of natural ecosystems, and successful businesses throughout the Alliance's history. A holo-table took up most of the room's space, a small bar adjacent to it. The conference room was made specifically for big corporations and industries to conduct important meetings between them, or to present new projects for the Alliance military and government. Today it server a grander purpose: To bridge the two species' governments.

All four of Kasin's eyes swiveled towards the projection on the table, recognizing the particularly set of systems being displayed. The Skyllian Verge. The Hegemony had always wanted to colonize it, but were stopped by the _Citadel_ Council. Standing next to the projection, the systems illuminating their uniforms, were the Alliance's President Jonatan Vasquez and equally as important, Lord Admiral Terrence Hood. Both walked towards Kasin.

"Ambassador Pas'boprak." said Jonatan as he shook hands with the ambassador.

"President." Kasin responded in the traditional Batarian greeting once the handshake was done with, repeating the motion with the Admiral.

Jonatan gestured towards the holo-table, which had changed to show the proposed treaty. Kasin appreciated the lack of political stalling, which, while useful, had no place here. Kasin's expression changed to one of surprise and suspicion the further he read the proposed treaty. It was just too good to be true.

Looking at the President, suspicion coated his voice. "What's your angle?"

"Simple really. To form an alliance with the Hegemony." The president replied, his features humorless.

"Don't make a fool of me Human!" Kasin said angrily, "While this treaty is greatly beneficial to my people, it will barely benefit yours. So, I ask again. What's your angle?"

Changing the holo-projector to show the galaxy map again, and zooming the Skyllian Verge section, Jonatan explained the reason for the treaty conditions.

"We both know that the Hegemony has been asking the _Citadel_ Council to declare the Skyllian Verge as part of Batarian territory, a request that would had been eventually answered if the attack on the _Citadel_ and us arriving in the galactic picture hadn't happened. Add the fact that the Attican Traverse is in the frontier of both of our territories, making our governments worry about all pirates that reside in both, the Attican Traverse and the Skyllian Verge."

"So you are offering to give us the Skyllian Verge so we can clean it of pirates for you?" Kasin asked incredulously. Secretly though, he was planning to do what the Hegemony always did, letting the pirates attack, and say that they couldn't do anything about it.

Terrence almost felt what the Batarian was thinking. _"He thinks that the Hegemony can get away with what they usually do."_ He inwardly smiled. "Not at all, we will help you in that task, but besides one or two systems, the rest of the Skyllian Verge will be property of the Hegemony. And this takes me to the second reason of giving the Hegemony that territory: the Attican Traverse." Hood answered.

Kasin shifted his weight to his other foot. He knew what was going on between the humans and the Covenant, but he wanted to make sure, so he asked, "What about it?"

"As you know, the Loyalist Covenant resides there. It's only a matter of time before they decide to attack, which will bring our war onto your doorstep." Hood gauged the Batarian's reactions before continuing, "You saw the recordings of the battle of the _Citadel_ , you cannot stop them. We are essentially offering you resources and colonization rights to bolster your force in return for letting us post military outposts and patrols along your and our borders.

All four of Kasin's eyes blinked. "So we're going to be a buffer? Now I see why you're so eager to offer the Skyllian Verge." He paused. "What of the Geth? What part do they play here?

"They will patrol their borders within the Attican Traverse and the Terminus Systems. Should the Hegemony be willing, they will secure trade routes within the Attican. Securing and protecting are not the same thing however. It will take all three of us to _keep_ those routes secure." Hood offered.

"I see." Kasin's hand going towards his jaw, thinking deeply. "What about the part that will classify the Hegemony as an official ally of the Alliance and the Geth if we agree to the treaty? Why should the Hegemony become your ally? Don't forget that both of our governments and cultures have had many disagreements in the past." Kasin pointed out, curious to know the reason in the Alliance's change of heart.

"It's just as stated on the treaty: if one of us three is attacked by a hostile force, the other two parties have the responsibility to help the attacked party if it requests help or if our ships are present during the attack. Finally, any trade agreements made between our governments shall be made free of any form of tax." Jonatan reported.

Thinking it over for a second, Kasin requested to use the holo-communicator to contact the Hegemony's Emperor. Granting the request, Hood and Jonatan exited the room to offer the ambassador some privacy. An hour or so later and Kasin told them that they could come back in, thanking them for the privacy offered.

"President, Lord Admiral; thank you for waiting" Kasin began, "I spoke with Emperor Drar'pator. He has agreed to the treaty, but we have a few conditions."

"Name them." Jonatan said.

"Your patrols will defend the Voyager and Attican Beta Clusters. They are the closest to the Covenant. Likewise, we too will put patrols along your and our borders." Kasin saw the two high-ranking humans exchange subtle gestures.

"That can be arranged," Hood said, thinking on which two systems would benefit from the reinforcements.

"Second, while within our territory, your people will follow all of our rules. If you agree with that, then we will return the favor within your territory." Seeing both of them nod, he continued, "Finally, we want to use one of your shipyards, which will be moved to either the Voyager or Attican Beta Cluster." Seeing the confusion and frowns shown he elaborated, "The reason we want an extra shipyard is simple: If we move to occupy the Skyllian Verge, we need to reinforce it, thus our number of ships to patrol the frontier with the Attican Traverse will be less. This also leads to a future beneficial project for both of us. If you lend us one of your shipyards, we can help you start cleaning the Attican Traverse to connect our territories to that of the Geth."

"I see." Hood said, "That is doable. The shipyard can be moved, but it will stay under Alliance control. I assume you will be willing to hand us schematics to oversee your ship production?" Seeing the Batarian's hesitation, Hood added, "I can't promise you anything, but I believe that we can spare one of our shipyard stations, though, unless you are willing to share blueprints of your ships, you will need to find the necessary personnel to use it."

Seeing the ambassador nod in acknowledgement, the three of them proceeded to sign the agreement and prepare the public galactic announcement. Hours later, Kasin was back in his office, feeling accomplished with his work. Activating his Omni-tool, Kasin contacted a pirate group that awaited its orders.

"Cancel the operation and all future strike projects against the Alliance. This comes directly from the top." He said. Seeing the confusion on the pirate, he explained. "As of right now, the Systems Alliance and the Geth are allies of the Hegemony. Spread the word through the Attican Traverse and the Terminus, they are not to be attacked unless you want the Hegemony to go after you."

He immediately heard disgruntled voices and shouts in the background. He too was sorely disappointed, but this treaty outweighed anything they could get from simple raids. The amount of garden worlds alone is enough to make pirate raids unnecessary.

"Understood ambassador. We'll spread the word and eliminate anyone else who doesn't agree with us."

Nodding in acknowledgment, Kasin closed the encrypted and private communication before serving himself some wine, after all, tomorrow would be a good day. The next day, the galactic community will be taken by surprise by the alliance between the Systems Alliance, the Geth, and the Hegemony.

 **January 8, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar;** **Hestia System, Orbit of Hestia-V, Meridian.**

The Hestia system was home to the mining colony of Meridian, a moon of significant historical importance for the Human race. Its past was bathed with bloodshed from various conflicts, ranging from the insurrections of the 25th century to the final years of the Human-Covenant war. Having survived two Covenant assaults, the latter ending in a near-total glassing, the moons minerals and resources flourished underground from the high heat. This made Meridian optimal for mining and de-glassing. Beneath the substantial resources, many Forerunner artifacts were found, a couple which led to two more Forerunner shield worlds.

More recently though, one of the miner operations discovered the remains of a Forerunner structure deep underground, the structure being similar to the one found in Palamok. After the discovery, the moon's Governor, Sloan, contacted ONI, informing them of the discovery. Sloan was a smart AI who miraculously managed to survive rampancy. At the cost of resolution, some loss of emotional parameters and speed, he was able to preserve his more logical capabilities and remain stable.

It was in this busy system, with cargo ships entering and exciting the system, that a portal suddenly appeared a few thousand kilometers away from Meridian's defense force, a Pelican coming out of the portal. With the ONI symbol proudly displayed on the side of the pitch-black Pelican, the dropship made its way towards one of the many space stations orbiting the moon, this one opening one of its docking bays. Once the Pelican landed, fireteam Osiris came out of the dropship, their weapons holstered. The team consisted of four members: Jameson Locke, Olympia Vale, Holly Tanaka, and Edward Buck.

Gesturing his team to follow, Locke guided them towards the space elevator of the station. Alliance workers filled the halls of the station, some of them looking at the Spartans while others ignored them to attend to their duties.

"A busy place." Buck commented while looking around.

"Meridian produces most of the titanium used by the Alliance." Vale said while also looking around, spotting various crates. "Hundreds of shipments are sent from here to all corners of the Alliance, along other resources towards Citadel space."

Rising an eyebrow behind his helmet, Buck looked at Vale. His head slightly inclined questioningly. "How do you know that?"

"It's just one of the perks of being former intelligence: You know things." She responded smugly.

"I'm sure that they miss you." Buck barked back sarcastically with a small amused smile.

"Stop it you two, we are here." Locke said from the front. Opening a communications channel, he contacted the Governor. "Governor Sloan, I was hoping that we might have a word."

"Come into the elevator and we'll talk." He simply responded.

Getting out of the docking area, the team moved towards the cargo elevator that would take them towards the moon's surface. Once inside, they moved to one of the observation sides of the elevator to not get in the way of the workers. Soon after, the elevator started its quick descent to the moon's surface.

Locke activated his communicator once again, only to stop once he spotted a floating holo-drone, the size of a plasma grenade, moving towards them. The holo-drone projected the holographic representation of Governor Sloan, his appearance slightly blurry and without much detail.

"Sorry for the wait, I was overseeing some details with the ongoing evacuation." Sloan said curtly.

"Not a problem governor." Locke responded, while looking outside as the elevator passed through the moon's clouds. Focusing on the AI once again, he asked, "What's our status?"

"The evacuation is going smoothly mostly and should be over in a day at most. We had a few incidents but nothing that you should worry about." Sloan said. His avatar flickered, static buzzing in his mid-section before petering out to normalcy.

"So that's how they got the people out of the moon." Tanaka said suddenly. "An evacuation drill. Honestly, it surprises me that there weren't any protests."

"Meridian has a policy of having this kind of drills twice per year. The fact that we haven't had one yet makes for the perfect excuse to evacuate the people safely." Sloan explained before transforming into a holographic map of Meridian's stations. "Moving on, the unknown structure was found close to Apogee station. Some of our scientists and researchers are already on the site investigating. Furthermore, we have recollected a few samples of the structure, they are currently being analyzed in Jorta station." Each station highlighting respectively.

"I see." Locke said while downloading the information to his armor's systems. "Governor, I would like to have two members of my team at Apogee station and oversee the findings on the samples in Jorta. I assume that that isn't going to be a problem?"

"I don't see why it would be. Just keep your guns holstered at all times, most of the people living here aren't used to see Alliance special forces around." Sloan said, seeing the Spartans nod at his request, he started to float away. "Well, I need to go oversee the final details on the evacuation. Spartans."

Locke watched the holo-drone move back to wherever it came from, before turning to his team. "Buck, Vale; you two are off to Apogee station. Secure the structure and see what the scientist have found so far. Tanaka, you are with me."

"Understood." Osiris answered. Taking his helmet off, Buck asked, "Hey Locke, any news on Crimson's mission yet?"

"Last I hear, they were about to board _Argent_. Why do you ask?"

"Doesn't it seem strange that, just after the attack on _Argent_ , Singapore managed to send us the location of the intact structure that's the cause of all these planetary incidents?"

"He is right, you know. If the timing is correct, then the Prometheans should of being able to intercept the message, but they didn't." Vale added.

Blinking in surprise at the analysis, Locke thought about the reasoned conclusion for a few seconds before answering. "You two are right, something is wrong here. For the moment just keep your eyes and ears open, and be ready for trouble. I'll inform ONI on our report."

Minutes later the elevator stopped, having arrived at Meridian station. Opening its big doors, multiple Mantises designed to transport big cargo entered the elevator to help unload the cargo brought. Osiris moved quietly and quickly out of the elevator towards the landing platform of the station, two Pelicans already waiting for them. The Pelicans were yellow with black highlights, lacking any kind of weaponry and having the Meridian symbol on their sides.

The Spartans boarded the Pelicans, each one going in opposite directions towards their destinations. It wasn't long before the Pelican landed close to the main facilities in Jorta station, both Spartans exiting and taking their helmets off. Spotting a scientist in the landing pad, both made their way towards her.

"Mr. Locke, Ms. Tanaka; Governor Sloan informed me of your arrival. I'm Dr. Aranda." She introduced herself as they made their way to a nearby civilian Warthog.

"A pleasure." Locke said, "I was informed that you have some samples on the labs. What can you tell me about your investigation so far?"

Hearing those words, Dr. Aranda's face lit up in excitement before going into detail on their findings. _"She sure is excited about this."_ Tanaka thought. Being a former engineer, she managed to understand most of what the young doctor was talking about, unlike Locke who decided to give up in understanding the technical talk.

"…though the most interesting thing that we discovered is a set of armor." Her voice became equal parts fascination and excited confusion.

Hearing that, Locke looked at the doctor, his curiosity sparked. "What armor?"

Blinking in surprise at the sudden question, the doctor looked at Locke before answering. "Well, the armor seems to be for ceremonial purposes as it is bigger than the estimated height of the Forerunners, and there's also the fact that it is not hollow. We have concluded that it was mostly used as some kind of warning statue to important places, as the armor shows military designs, operates with unknown nanotechnology and has an intimidating face."

"An intimidating face?" Tanaka asked doubtfully.

"Why don't I show you instead?" The doctor said while stopping the Warthog. Gesturing to the Spartans to follow, she guided them through the lab. After passing thought the decontamination chamber, both Spartans entered to the main lab facilities. The lab had many scientists and dumb AIs analyzing some of the Forerunner artifacts found. Though what called their attention was the giant armor like statue that the doctor had mentioned. It was grey with orange highlights, some of its pieces being hold in place by antigravity or nanotechnology. Though its most obvious feature was its size, being twice the size of a Sangheili.

Looking at the doctor, who had a big grin on her face, both Spartans followed her through the lab in what she called a small tour. Through the immensely informative tour, both Spartans recorded everything said and seen to analyze it more in depth latter on. None of them noticing the eyes of the armor tracking their movements whenever no one was looking.

 **January 8, 2173, Citadel Council Calendar; Athena Nebula, Parnitha System, Thessia.**

A day had passed since the battle of the Citadel, and her encounter with the mutated Asari that attacked her and Saren on Daratar. The image of the techno-organic Asari still fresh on her mind. The encounter had left her exhausted, thankfully the Alliance had arrived just in time to treat their injuries. _"To think that I spent much of my energy on that encounter just to kill that thing."_ She thought. Being a highly influential and powerful Matriarch, her biotic abilities were in par with the most skilled of Asari commandos, even some Asari SPECTRES palled in comparison to her control of biotics. So it was a big surprise to her when she had to use almost all her power on the encounter. _"Not to mention that I still had some assistance. Maybe I'm getting sloppy with my training."_

Shaking her head to clear her mind of those thoughts, she focused on the events that happened after arriving back at her home. After the Alliance was generous enough to give her a ride back to Thessia, she had planned to relax and meditate for a while to clear her mind from what she came to call: The encounter. Instead, she had come into her house to see her excited daughter ready to leave for a newly discovered Prothean dig-site. She of course had asked were this dig-site was, which so happened to be on the frontier with the Systems Alliance, on the Exodus Cluster.

After her daughter's departure, she had taken a much-needed shower. Only to come out and find a new message on her terminal. Reading the message, her eyes opened further in surprise and worry at the text written. Someone wanted to meet with her, that itself wasn't what worried her. What did worry her was the fact that this unknown person knew things that shouldn't be known to anyone but herself and a few select individuals.

That took her to the small restaurant overlooking one of the many parks in the city. The restaurant was famous for its attraction of tourists of many different species, and it seemed that the Alliance's citizens weren't an exception. Entering the establishment, she made her way to a table in the back with a view to the rest of the restaurant. She immediately noted that there was someone waiting for her at the table.

"Matriarch Benezia." The stranger greeted, while courteously pulling off a chair back, offering it to her. "I'm Jacob Taylor. I'll be representing my superiors for this meeting."

Benezia looked at the dark-skinned Human, noting that he wasn't too comfortable with the role that he was playing. _"Not a politician then. This could work to my advantage."_ She thought. "Mr. Taylor." She acknowledged, "I was informed that you would have some kind of," She stopped briefly, thinking of the appropriate word to use, "proposition for me?"

Clearing his mind of stray thoughts, Jacob put on the best poker face that he could muster. "Indeed I do." He started before pulling a small data-pad on the table. "But first, I would like for you to look at the contents in that data-pad."

Rising an inquisitive eyebrow, she looked at the information given. The data-pad summarized in detail the encounter that Saren and her had with the techno-organic Asari in Daratar, along with other cases in different colonies. It also listed possible theories to the victims' transformations. Though, what did capture her full attention, and in a horrible way, was the fact that weeks before the transformation, the victims might have been under the mental control of someone else. _"But how is that possible?!"_ she thought slightly alarmed, _"I spent days in her company before she was infected with whatever it was that caused her sudden hostility. And I never noticed something amiss."_ Hearing the Human clearing his throat to gain her attention, she looked back at him.

"As you can see already, that encounter that you had wasn't the only one reported." Jacob stated, "Currently, there's nothing but speculation in what exactly is causing these mutations. That's why CERBERUS is making this offer to you. Hep us put a stop to these incidents."

" _This just confirmed my suspicions. CERBERUS was behind that message."_ She thought, analyzing Jacob's expressions. She could tell that he was saying the truth, or what he believed to be the truth. "Ignoring the fact that a well-known terrorist organization is making this offer. Why is CERBERUS interested in stopping this? And why pick me out of all the people in the galaxy? Aren't you supposed to be against cooperation with anything non-Alliance related?"

"Honestly, this affects us as much as anyone else. Especially if our theories on the causes of this are correct." Jacob began. "And though our reputation says the contrary, we aren't opposed to working with non-Alliance species if the situation requires it."

"If that's the case, then what's CERBERUS' goal?" She curiously asked. _"So far their actions don't match completely with what the public knows about them."_ She had seen the recordings and reports of some of CERBERUS' actions, and all of them had a pattern of being as little harmful to civilians as possible.

" _Seems like she is starting to listen."_ Jacob thought before answering, "Our goal is to neutralize any threat, internal or external, to the Alliance. Preferably in a peaceful way, but violently if necessary."

"I see. That still doesn't tell me what you want from me, nor why should I help you." She pointed out.

"You are highly influential within Asari politics, which makes you perfect to obtain what we want. All we are asking of you is: to help your people prepare for the worst and to give us access to the best of your scientific community. If our theories are right, then there's no way that we will survive the incoming storm alone, not even that beacon in the temple will save the Asari."

Her body seized like she'd been struck with a Stasis field. That beacon was supposed to be the Republic's most guarded secret, as it was what put the Asari as one of the most advanced species in the galaxy. The fact that a Human, and one working for CERBERUS at that, knew about the beacon was nothing but bad news. It was then that she realized that her initial assumption of the Human was slightly wrong. While no politician, he knew how to manipulate a conversation to obtain what he wanted. _"Probably why he was sent to contact me."_ She thought bitterly.

"I suppose that I have no choice then. But first, I want to know what exactly am I dealing with." There was no way that she would accept something without knowing every single detail that that entailed.

"If you look in your omni-tool, I'm sure that the information is already in there."

She did as asked, and indeed there was all the information relevant to the attack on the Citadel and its relation to the multiple techno-organic transformations discovered. There even was a report by Saren Arterius of his investigation of Magna colony. _"So that's what really happened there."_ She thought.

Looking back at Jacob, she sighted in defeat. Truthfully, she also wanted to get to the bottom of this, and from the look of the SPECTRE's report, the Council was doing nothing about this matter. "Alright, you have my support. Though it will take me a few weeks to find the necessary scientists to help in your investigation."

Nodding in acknowledgment, Jacob stood up, ready to leave. "I'll inform my superior about this, and we'll send you more information in the upcoming days. Also, if you require any form of assistance we'll be happy to assist."

With that, Jacob exited the restaurant. _"It seems that my relaxation days are over. Wait, why didn't any waiter came to our table? We were talking for more than an hour."_ She thought. Frowning, she looked around, noticing that all the supposed people inside the restaurant flickered out of existence. _"Holograms of course."_ She though amusedly.

Getting out of the empty restaurant, she made her way back to her house. Once inside, she contacted a few of her more trusted followers, asking them to investigate all of CERBERUS' activities and send her the information. _"If what Mr. Taylor said is true, then there should be some form of pattern or evidence that supports his claim."_ She might be helping CERBERUS for the moment, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't be cautions around them.

Back in the park, Jacob contacted The Illusive Man. "She has agreed to work with us."

"Good." The Illusive Man responded before Jacob's Omni-tool beeped. "I just sent you your next assignment. Make sure to report weekly directly to me." With that the connection was over.

Jacob looked at the message in his Omni-tool. His next assignment being to observe from afar the matriarch's actions. _"Seems like she can't be fully trusted yet. Though eliminate her if she compromises us? I really need to ask for a raise."_ Jacob though, chuckling slightly at the end. Looking back at the restaurant, he saw as the owners reopened the establishment. _"Good to know that money works the same way in any place of the galaxy."_ Was his final thought before moving through the crowds, quickly disappearing.

 **January 8, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar;** **Hestia System, Orbit of Hestia-V, Meridian, Apogee Station.**

Apogee station was settled in a rocky terrain, with multiple cliffs and inclines, similar to those found in mountain chains. Labs and other corporations were also stablished in there, with their mining operations deep within the cave systems. A landing pad resided just outside the station, making air transport the main way to Apogee, though ground transport was still used.

The Pelican landed on the landing pad, its' thrusters announcing the arrival of the two Spartans. After exiting the Pelican, Buck and Vale boarded a military warthog that awaited them to take them to the dig-site. The caves had multiple platforms and research buildings to facilitate the miner operations, with a few bridges connecting some sections of the cave, a river passing bellow said bridges.

After some minutes into the cave, the soldier stopped the Warthog close to a walkway before looking at his two passengers. "The research teams are just ahead sirs."

Nodding at the private, Buck and Vale made their way through the walkway, the Warthog going back to the surface. Miner and scientist moved along the settlement, bringing minerals to be analyzed or going deeper into the cave. Their steps led them to an ONI checkpoint. A couple of guards were stationed there, surveilling their surroundings while a couple of automated turrets hung back, mimicking their organic counterparts. And, on the other side of the walkway, another ONI checkpoint, like the first one, awaited. Seeing the Spartans coming, the guards moved to the sides, letting them pass to the service elevator.

"Security seems a bit light don't you think?" Buck asked as they got into the elevator, the double-doors closing before going down.

"They ought to have a few drones in standby, its ONI we are talking about after all." Vale responded. Her suit was taking in possible escape routes, and upon finishing, she stepped forward towards the elevator gates. "Well, would you look at that. It's massive."

Looking in the direction that Vale was looking at, Buck saw the biggest Forerunner structure that he had seen in his career. The structure was a deep silver, pulsating blue lines stretching across its frame. Its 'face', as Buck thought of it, resembled a mighty bird looking down at its prey bellow. At its feet, a multitude of scientific teams were scurrying about, testing Forerunner platforms that appeared to be floating.

Whistling in amazement, Buck said. "Damn. The holovid did no justice to this thing."

"Indeed." Vale responded as the elevator stopped, her eyes already focused beyond the doors in the event of a possible threat.

Coming out of the elevator, they were greeted by a veritable flood of scientists. Every few steps they took, they passed by a small semi-enclosed building filled with all manners of gadgets, and more importantly, pedestals that housed both, smart and dumb AIs. Out in the open was where the real attention was focused: The floating platforms that hung mid-air with no visible propulsion. Part of the attention was shifted away when Buck and Vale saw a bunch of armors along the sides of the cave.

Buck caught one scientist's eyes, who then proceeded to wave off his colleagues before stomping his way over to them.

"I wasn't aware that Spartans were coming down here." He nearly hissed, venom coating his words.

Narrowing their eyes at the scientist, both Spartans looked at each other, an unspoken conversation going between the two. Looking back at the angry scientist, Buck responded, coldly. "Orders from the top. Now, tell me everything that you have found about this thing," while gesturing towards the structure.

Grumbling some unintelligible words, the scientist moved towards the structure, the Spartans following close behind. "So far, we have discovered that those platforms," He said while pointing at said objects, "are part of some kind of slip-space transport system. Probably a way to get into the main structure. Regarding the structure itself, it's made of the same alloy as the ship that caused the incident of New Phoenix. Besides that, there's a few sets of armors in the chamber in front of the structure."

"What can you tell me about those armors?" Buck asked, folding his arms across his chest.

The scientist hoped that that would've been enough, but nonetheless continued, "Jorta station is overseeing that investigation. Of course, if we weren't interrupted as much, we would have made more discoveries already." The scientists said, muttering the last part.

Hearing the last words, Buck dismissed the scientist. Both Spartans moved closer to the team currently analyzing the structure. On the way, both passed through the chamber containing the armors. Vale stopped, looking at the colossal armors on the wall.

"Impressive, aren't they?" The hologram of one of the AIs asked.

Vale looked at the AI before responding, "They are. Any information found so far? Your friend over there," She said while gesturing to the scientist that received them, "wasn't much help."

"Dr. Kuang? Don't mind him, he's just mad that ONI kidnapped him from his work to come here. Regarding the structure, we haven't found as much as we would like, though we have found several indications in the cave referring to it as a Guardian. There might be more information of them in the Arc but it will take time to find it." The smart AI said.

"I see. And what about these armors? Are they just for decoration or?" Buck said, leaving the question hanging with a gesture.

"We don't know much of them. Jorta station is analyzing one of the armors that they have. What I can tell you is that they are connected to the Guardian. We speculate that once the Guardian is activated, this armors will as well, probably serving as some form of security mechanism."

"Interesting. Well, we won't keep you from your work any longer." Vale said. Afterwards, she and Buck moved to a secluded area. "So, what do you think?" she asked.

"Honestly? This place gives me a bad feeling. It reminds me of the service tunnels back on Earth when the Covenant attacked in the '52." Buck wasn't usually somber, but his tone dropped to something lower than normal.

Taking her helmet off, Vale raised an eyebrow at his response. "Why's that?"

"I take it that you never entered them at the time?" Seeing her nod, Buck explained. "The tunnels were infested with Jiralhanae and Yanme'e who set up ambushes in every corner. I get the feeling that we are in the middle of some ambush. And those armors over there don't help dissuading those thoughts."

"As long as the Guardian doesn't activate, I'm sure that we'll be fine." Vale tried to reassure him with a smile.

"Here's hoping for everything to go fine for once." Buck murmured, his head craning towards the Guardian and not really believing Vale's words.

"Now you are just being negative." Vale said humorously.

Buck chuckled in response. This was one of the reasons of why he liked to be part of Osiris, they weren't as strict as most special units. After the attack on the colony of Phoenix, his squad of ODSTs had disbanded by one reason or another. Romeo decided to retire from the military, saying that he had had enough after over fifty years of active duty. Dutch and Mikey were given a promotion, both transferring to Reach to train future ODSTs. And the Rookie took under his wing an ODST squad fresh out of training. Even after he signed-up to the Spartan-IV program, the five of them still met every now and then for old times' sake.

Then he was assigned to fireteam Osiris as a mentor of sorts. At the time, the team had little to no experience on actual warfare, all of them having participated in infiltration or assassination operations. And that's where he came in, as an advisor to the team during open warfare operations. Locke may be the leader of the squad, but Buck's input and suggestions were always taken into consideration.

For the next few hours, both Spartans stood guard by the elevator, occasionally asking if the scientist discovered anything else. The work was tedious, but Buck and Vale passed the time telling stories of previous missions of theirs to the other. It wasn't until nearly six hours later that the scientists managed to activate the platforms.

"Energy readings are stable with no fluctuations detected. All lectures are within the expected parameters." A scientist said while looking at his terminal, "Dr. Kuang, we got power into the platforms, they should be working."

"Excellent!" Kuang said, pleased with the results. "Make sure that everything is working perfectly before we test the system with the drone. I don't want any accidents happening today people."

Nodding, the scientists continued their testing. Meanwhile, both Spartans approached the team analyzing the Guardian, asking if they could help them in any way. The scientists blinked in surprise at the unexpected request, they had assumed that the Spartans were just extra security. _"Seems like even Spartans can get restless."_ The group leader thought.

Kilometers away from Apogee station, an array of giant antennas aimed at the skies rotated, or moved, around the complex. Their job being that of detecting any incoming signals to the system, like the giant antennas used in the 21st century on Earth. Even though that was its main function, the complex also served as a primary command post to all the ground troops on Meridian.

One of the consoles suddenly turned on a small alarm, letting its user know that it had detected something unusual or unscheduled. The Unggoy looked at the terminal, pressing a few commands to make sure that the data received was accurate.

"Sir, I'm detecting slip-space whispers close to Hestia-VI." The Unggoy said.

Moving to the Unggoy's console to see the information displayed, the Kig-Yar answered. "Register the anomaly and send the report to the defense group. Let them take it from here."

Doing that, the Unggoy continued to monitor the system, not detecting any more anomalies for the rest of his turn. The complex continued with its regular work for the next hours, the people working in there forgetting about the anomaly in favor of going to their homes to sleep soundly once night came and those of the third turn came to relieve them.

 **January 13, 2173, Citadel Council Calendar; Serpent Nebula, Widow System,** ** _Citadel_** **Station.**

It had been days since the Geth attack on the station, which historians now called: The Battle of the _Citadel_. With the Citadel'sdefense fleet crippled, the station was now temporarily defended by Alliance ships and the surviving and functioning ships of the original Citadeldefense fleet. This in turn made security even stricter, every ship coming or leaving the _Citadel_ had to pass through a series of ship scans and if something suspicious came out in those scans, the ship was boarded and inspected. In the event that the ship's captain refused to follow either of the two procedures, his or her ship would be disabled and taken away for inspection; if the ship opened fire, then the Alliance will destroy the ship on the spot.

The new temporary rules of the station put most of the civilians on the _Citadel_ nervous, afraid that it was a coup d'état by the Alliance. Their fears were put to rest once the Alliance gave a press conference explaining that the new set of rules would be in effect for the next two months, to make sure that no other party attacked the _Citadel_. The Council also publicly announced that they gave full authority to the Alliance and the remainder of the Citadel Defense Fleet to protect the system as they saw fit; that way they could focus primarily in the reconstruction of the station.

In the past days, the _Citadel_ saw most of its industrial and commercial districts under reconstruction or renovation. This was a breath of relief as things now normalized. Even so, many hospitals saw many wounded, but was thankfully mitigated by the help of many doctors from both, the Alliance and the Asari Republics.

Galactic wise, the Turian Hierarchy and the Salarian Union started to distribute combined patrols around the Citadel space border with the Attican Traverse, while the Asari Republic put ships to guard key relays within Citadel space. In their borders with Alliance space, which now also included Batarian space, both sides had constant patrols, making that access point the most defended one in the southern region of the galaxy.

In response to this new arrangement, the Council reunited with all the parties affected by the treaty of Farixen to make some changes to it. The main change was to increase the number of Dreadnoughts, and fleets, that the Citadel species could have, while also temporarily allowing the Alliance military to have more ships within their space so that they could defend the Citadel and its adjacent systems more effectively. This last addendum only being temporary until the CitadelDefense Fleet was back to full strength. Many historians will eventually see this time period as the _Citadel's_ largest state of war readiness during peace times.

The announcement that the Batarian Hegemony and the Alliance were now allies had shocked the galaxy. None had expected those two powers, which had opposite ideologies, to ally with one another. The councilors had been wary for the next days around the Alliance, thinking that they may stop most of the trade with Citadel space just like the Hegemony had done. Their fears were put to rest once it became obvious that the Hegemony-Alliance alliance was made to reinforce their borders with the Attican, and to prevent a possible conflict in regards with the Skyllian Verge. The fact that the Geth were also securing trade routes within the Attican, while the Alliance and the Hegemony reinforced them, had put the rest of the galaxy at ease. After all, it seemed that the three allies will start a cleaning of that sector of the galaxy. Something that many were glad for, as the Loyalist were known to be active in that region of space.

It was after the long meeting regarding the treaty of Farixen, that the Councilors returned to the hotel that they were staying at. With the Citadel Tower still under reconstruction, they had temporarily moved to the penthouse of one the undamaged hotels in the Presidium. The penthouse had four rooms, one for each councilor and the last one used for their meetings. The waiting area had a wall sized holo-screen, with a bar on the side and a kitchen further down the corridor. To the side of the holo-screen, a balcony provided a magnificent view of the station, though not as impressive as the one seen from the tower. C-Sec guards also patrolled the floor corridors, with two constant guards outside the room and another two inside.

After relaxing for a few minutes, Sparatus entered the meeting room, preparing the small holo-table in the room before sitting on one of the three single seat sofas. Valern was the next one to enter, followed soon after by Tevos. Taking their seats, Sparatus started the meeting.

"Valern, Tevos." He said while nodding at each of them, both returning the gesture. "I have been thinking of the request that detective Vakarian made to us a few days ago, and after reviewing extensively the information provided, I'll be giving my approval to his request."

"I too will approve of the request. The," his lips formed a thin line, "disturbing information in that file certainly merits a cautious approach with those remains." Valern said, with Tevos indicating her approval as well.

"I'll send the request to Huerta Memorial and the scientific teams tomorrow morning." Tevos said, reaching towards the holo-table. Activating the holo-table to show videos and pictures of protests within Citadel space, she continued. "Regarding the protests against the Alliance and their Geth allies being within Citadel space, I believe that I have come up with a solution."

Looking in interest at Tevos, Valern and Sparatus listened to what could be a solution to a problem out of their personal expertise.

"We know that taking military action against them will only result in more problems. So, I believe that a compromise will be more beneficial. Seeing as the deal that we made with the Alliance regarding their AIs worked really well with them and the public, I suggest doing something similar in this situation. Geth activity within Citadel space will be strictly monitored and minimal, that is, until they gain the public and our trust." Tevos offered.

"Hmm, interesting. I think that that could work, we only need to speak of this with the Alliance. Though, I'm sure that they'll understand the delicacy of the situation. Tevos, you have my support on this." Valern said, happy to have a solution to an urgent matter.

"We'll just have to be specific and detailed with the part of "closely monitored" once we speak with the Alliance and the Geth." Sparatus clasped his talons together. "Tevos, if you don't mind, I would like to go over a few ideas in regards to that with you latter." There was an underlying tone in his voice that beckoned her to nod.

"Moving on," Valern's fast-paced words brought them back, "it seems that the scientific teams had made some breakthroughs. Per the reports, the ship that the Loyalist focused in destroying is even older that the Protheans themselves. Our scientists aren't sure when exactly it was constructed, but the tests place it thousands of years before the fall of the Forerunner Empire."

Frowning, Tevos said, "That could indicate that the Forerunners constructed those ships, but the designs don't match with anything encountered in The Big Ring or with the information provided by the Alliance."

"Actually," Sparatus interrupted, "I believe that I can provide an answer to that." _"No backing out of this now,"_ His talons dragged the information from his omni-tool onto the table's display. It was of a Turian operation taking place within the Terminus Systems. "A few years ago, one of our patrols intercepted a signal of a pirate attack within the Terminus. The attack was close to the patrol's position, so they went there to help the merchant ship. Sadly, the ship was already destroyed and the pirates were long gone when they arrived. On the way back, they detected a signal coming from one of the inhabited moons in the system, upon investigation we discovered that it was Prothean in origin."

"And you didn't report this?" Valern asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I couldn't, the beacon exploded hours after its discovery. The only thing that we managed to get out of it was static. It wasn't until a few months ago that we managed to clean the information to discover that it was a video, or a memory of a Prothean. If you two see it, you'll understand what I'm getting at."

The holo-table played the video file, both councilors immediately noticing the Prothean architecture. The video showed tall skyscrapers, green and grey in color with rectangular shapes. Flames and smoke could be seen coming from the buildings, the skies covered with a thick cape of smoke. The memory continued, showing what the Prothean saw through his eyes, a strange rifle in his hands. Ahead, bipedal beings ran towards the Prothean's position, aiming the rifle, he pressed the trigger. Immediately a constant beam of energy came out, disintegrating its targets after a few seconds under the constant barrage of energy. The bipedal forms returned fire with similar weapons, the only difference detected being the color of the beam. Many Protheans fell to his side, forcing him and his companions to retreat while the enemy advanced. Off in the distance, a big walker, which the councilors noted that it had the same design as those that attacked the Citadel, opened its plates, showing a red eye. Seconds later, a red beam of destruction came his way, destroying everything in its path. The doors of the bunker closed seconds before the hit came, dust falling from the roof as the emergency reinforced doors closed.

Going back to the scene with the walker and pausing it, Sparatus opened another file. This file had an image of the ships that came through the _Citadel,_ he put it next to the one of the memory. He looked expectantly at his companions, noticing that Tevos and Valern had a look of pure shock. _"It can't be."_ Both thought.

"As you can see," Sparatus said, gaining the attention of the other two councilors. The air in the room became heavier with the weight of discovery and realization, "it seems that the ones responsible for the attack on the Citadel, were also the ones that caused the extinction of the Protheans. As to how I know that, the beacon also had another file that we managed to salvage. That file contained information on the enemies' control of the galaxy at the time." Pulling said file for display, Tevos and Valern saw as most of the galaxy was under a red color, with what was now Geth space being the only part in green.

"If that's true," Valern's quick mind formulated a result, "then its sure to assume that they are going to do the same to us. If the battle of the _Citadel_ and this map are any indication, then there are many more of them waiting to enter the galaxy."

"How do you know that they are out of the galaxy?" Tevos asked, confused by the statement.

"I had some STGs investigate what made the _Citadel_ bring those extra reinforcements of the Heretics. It appears that the _Citadel_ itself is some form of relay, waiting for its activation codes to be operational. We suspect that those codes are in the computer systems of the unknown ships, though we did manage to estimate the point of origin from where the ships jumped. It leads back to somewhere outside the galaxy, it could be dark space or the Andromeda galaxy."

"It makes sense, no sensor in the galaxy is strong enough to reach that far. The perfect place to resupply and plan the next attack. Though, why take so long between attacks?" Sparatus wondered.

"I think that we should focus in ways to upgrade our defenses instead of wondering why they do this." Tevos offered, a serious expression on her face, "If there are more of those ships out there, then we need to prepare. Though it must be in secret, if the public discovers this, then there will be chaos."

Sparatus' mandibles clacked once, surprise, as his eyes quickly drew towards Tevos' stern face. _"For her to take an offensive stance immediately means that there's no hope of a diplomatic solution."_ He thought. _"Then again, they already are responsible for the extinction of an entire species, maybe even more."_

"I agree. I suggest to focus on improving our ships' defenses. We know that our offensive capabilities can damage them, though it takes much time for it to matter. If we can improve our ships' shields, then we stand a better chance against them." Sparatus said.

"The Quarians have already made a great breakthrough in energy shields, though I expect them to improve them even more once the STG team within Alliance space returns." Valern said.

"Speaking of which, Valern, what's the status of the team?" Sparatus asked, curiosity coating his words.

"They should carry out their operation within a few days." Valern answered with a thoughtful expression.

"I still think that that was a bad idea." Tevos said. "If the Alliance discovers them, we will have a political problem that may cause a war. And that's something that we cannot afford."

"Don't worry Tevos, the Alliance knows that we have been researching energy shielding technology long before we encountered them. If the STGs stay undetected, everything will go fine." Sparatus countered.

Tevos sighted in resignation before saying, "In any case, I believe that giving support to matriarch Benezia will be beneficial to us as well."

Valern and Sparatus blinked in surprise. They had read about what was going on in Thesia recently, though they hadn't had the time to look at all the details. Seeing the surprise and confusion on their faces, Tevos elaborated.

"Matriarch Benezia and her supporters have come up with a new proposition to the Asari military. She is using the attack on the _Citadel_ to improve the Asari Republic's military training, oddly enough, the training proposition has similitudes to Turian, Batarian and Alliance military doctrines."

"That's interesting, any idea why she is basing that extra training in those doctrines?"

"My guess: Because you three have the most success and experience in combat. Which also explains her travels to Turian, Batarian and Alliance space in the past months."

"Hmm." Sparatus mussed, "In that case, it will be good to support her. In the meantime, I'll have the Hierarchy focus in reconstructing the Citadel Defense Fleet. After that, I'll pressure the Primarch into improving our defenses and response times. If the STG team returns safely, then everything should go as expected."

"The fact that those ships needed a relay to come here means that they are too far away to come in a conventional way. We should have months or years of preparation time if that's the case." Valern said. "I'll also have STGs guarding the controls to that relay at all times, and to look into a way to permanently lock its activation."

"If the reports of Saren and Vakarian are correct, then there's the risk that some of the Citadel habitants are already under their control. I suggest to order a medical evaluation of everyone on the _Citadel_ once the wounded are tended. The Republic should have no problem in sparing more medical equipment and doctors for that." Tevos said.

Sparatus nodded at the proposition. "Then there's only one more thing to attend to. Imorha. The colony's defense fleet hasn't reported in two days. The only reason that we haven't sent anyone yet, is because of a constant transmission saying that everything is fine." He stopped to briefly organize his thoughts before continuing, "Councilors. I would like to send an SPECTRE team to investigate."

"I believe that Saren's team is available at the moment. With everything that we have discussed so far, we can't take any risks anymore." Valern said, Tevos nodding at the declaration.

Sparatus nodded, already sending Saren's team their orders through his omni-tool. He then frowned, thinking before voicing his thoughts. "You realize that we'll have to inform the Alliance of this discovery, right? They will eventually be involved as well."

"I suggest we wait until we gather more evidence. Currently, this is all speculation, and for all that we know, the two ships that managed to escape the battle are the last ones of their kind." Tevos said.

Sparatus and Valern didn't necessarily agree, particularly Valern. It was better to err on the side of caution with matters that could involve galactic destruction. Regardless, they nodded, wanting to get done with their respective duties. Valern moved to his quarters, contacting STG to give him a status report and to give some orders. Tevos and Sparatus on the other hand, went to the bar in the waiting room, going over the details regarding more active Geth in the galactic community. The proposition had to be made as perfect as possible, one error and it could mean civil unrest or an end to relations with the Alliance.

 **January 13, 2173, Citadel Council Calendar; Systems Alliance Occupied System, Military Fortress Moon.**

It had been eight days since their arrival to the moon, and it had taken much effort on their part to stay undiscovered by Alliance patrols and scans. Then again, they were STGs, they were trained for this kind of operations. Getting to the system itself wasn't a problem, remaining undetected within the system was the most challenging task to date.

In their observation perch, which was one of the moon's cliffs that was covered by rock formations, Jalann Muzor shifted in his position. Getting a better angle on the Alliance base, he zoomed the scope that he was using, recording everything that the scope saw. The past eight days had been spent only recording the base's activities, which got them a pattern on the guards and patrol activities.

"Come on Irnant, where are you?" Jalann said nervously, his species' fast-paced mind working even faster.

A few hours ago, Irnant had went into the Alliance base, her optical camouflage letting her pass undetected with the assistance of Jalann as her observant. Her mission was a simple one, set up small jamming devices on the base's outside security systems. Once active, these devices would cut all electric security systems of the base, letting the incoming STG team enter the base more easily.

"Any word yet?" Zaedin Jaexe, the team's leader asked.

"Negative. Ma'am, I think that you should let me go down there. Irnant could be in trouble."

"That'll be unnecessary, though the sentiment is appreciated." Irnant said as she materialized next to Zaedin.

Jalann looked surprised at her, having figured that she had been captured as he had lost contact with her an hour ago. Before he could ask her what happened, Zaedin spoke.

"How did it go?"

"The mission was a success, though I had to stay hidden and offline for the last hour." Irnant said. Seeing the inquisitive looks, she elaborated, "When I planted the last jamming device, some guards blocked my exit of the building. They were taking a break, so I was forced to wait until they left."

"Good job then. Now we only need to wait for the secondary team to arrive before we carry out the operation." Zaedin said while sitting on a nearby rock. "They should be here in two or three days. Irnant, Jalann; you two can take a break now. We'll continue our observations tomorrow morning."

With that said, the STGs took a much-needed rest. Setting up a small fire deep within the cover of the rocks and activating a temperature screen, so that Alliance patrols and sensors wouldn't detect them, they started to cook one of the wild animals to eat. Their ratios had run out a few days ago, so they had to do with the animals available on the moon. No one could accuse an STG of not being prepared for any situation, and it seemed that even the Alliance, for all their secrecy and technological advantage, were also vulnerable to STGs.

 **January 8, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar;** **Hestia System, Orbit of Hestia-V, Meridian, Jorta station.**

It was late in the night when Locke finally exited the labs. Tanaka had stayed inside with Dr. Aranda to discuss more things about the results. Walking to a railing overlooking the main street of the complex, he activated his long-range communication device. The holographic screen appeared from his arm, an awaiting connection screen being shown for a few seconds before the connection was established. The silhouette of a man could be seen on the screen, no features, besides his shadow, were shown.

"Director." Locke saluted formally.

"Spartan Locke." The director said, "I assume that you have your report ready?"

"Affirmative. So far, we have discovered that the unknown Forerunner object is called a Guardian. Though we haven't discovered the actual purpose or what it is doing here."

"Have there been any signs of its activation?" The director asked as he looked through the more detailed file that Locke sent him.

"Negative sir." Locke answered. Looking thoughtful for a second, he asked, "Sir, if I may ask. What's the status of Crimson's mission?"

"It was a success, though _Argent Moon_ was lost." Looking pointedly at Locke, the Director continued more seriously, "Locke, be careful in there, Crimson encountered an ambush inside the ship so it's safe to assume that the Prometheans are planning something with that Guardian."

"An ambush sir?" Locke asked curiously.

"They used Singapore as bait to lure us there. Once we were on the site, two unknown ships of Forerunner design entered the system and attacked us."

Locke looked surprised at the screen, _"Forerunner ships? Weren't all destroyed after the Halo array fired?"_ He thought. But before he could voice his thoughts, static started to appear on the screen, and soon after, the connection was lost. Locke tried to reconnect again, but to no avail, each try was met with static. Screams came from the lab, enticing him into a sprint. He was greeted with pools of blood and bodies laid strewn across the floor. Many had missing appendages. The doctor that had received them earlier laid next to where a suit of armor should've been. Glass crystals incrusted on her body, her thorax having been crushed by something stepping on her moments ago.

His mind raced for conclusions, but training made him contact his team. He spotted Tanaka under some rubble and went to assist before a ball of dark energy slammed into him. He hurled forward through the lab's walls, his shields depleted and alarms going off in his helmet. Static washed over him, limiting his visibility as he tried to get up. He found out that he had also slammed into a few warthogs. A moment later, a short-range communication popped up, the static having died down enough for him to see it.

"Locke!" Buck yelled through the audio, weapons fire and screams making their way through. "The Guardian, its activating itself." Static momentarily cut the transmission, Buck firing at an unknown being the only distinguishable sound. "God damn it. Locke! The armor sets, they are hostiles. I don't know what happened, but as soon as the Guardian activated itself they came online. Also…theans…ere." After that, the transmission was cut.

Looking up while trying to stand, Locke saw as a figure twice his size come his way. The last thing he saw being the kick that sent him flying through the wall of another building. Rubble came down on him, burying him. The suit's medical systems reporting a broken bone. So did his body as pain flooded him. Cracks formed along his visor and vision as an explosion nearby rocked him. A broken Mantis rocketed towards him, and then, he saw and felt nothing.

 **A/N: And here's another chapter done. Honestly, this was longer than expected, reaching over 10,000 words, not counting A/N. Moving on, I have college finals next week, so my writing time will be extremely limited for the next 2 weeks. Even so, expect the next chapter to be ready between the first or second week of January.**

 **One final thing, if you are curious to see the progress of the story and its outline, then check my profile. All the relevant information is in there. Thank you.**

 **Happy holidays in advance!**


	3. Battle of Meridian

**The Next Great Journey: Awakening**

 **Many thanks to my co-Author for betaing this story. His inputs and overall help are much appreciated.**

 **NOTE: Please read A/N at the end. (It has no spoilers so you can read it now or after reading the chapter.)**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own any Halo or Mass Effect products; they belong to their respective owners.**

Chapter 3: Battle of Meridian

 **January 8, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar;** **Hestia System, Meridian's Defense Force, Battlecruiser** _ **Twilight's Faith**_ **.**

Being so far away from hostile territory, Meridian's defenses were sparse. The only dangers lurking out here would be pirates or the occasional terrorist group, that is, nothing of import. This was not to say it was completely defenseless. A Fast Response Fleet (FRF) was situated just a short jump away. Not only that, Meridian still had two Orbital Defense Platforms (ODPs), a battlegroup, and two patrols. The battlegroup consisted of a battlecruiser, two heavy destroyers, two light destroyers and three Stalwart frigates. The patrols contained two corvettes and one Stalwart frigate each.

Shipmaster Is 'Tecam's eyes casually gazed at the holographic display of Hestia-VI and its moons. Her command ship, the battlecruiser _Twilight's Faith_ , had been informed, by Meridian's radio-telescope array, of the detected anomalies just behind the planet's largest moon. Three solid blue arrows indicated patrol group Alpha on approach to said moon. Her mandibles closed in contemplation. Her climb to shipmaster had been rather fast for a Sangheili, especially a female one. Graduating from the air force academy in 2567, she started as a Seraph pilot and after only 6 years, she got the title of shipmaster. The reason for this being her taking emergency command of a small battlegroup when the previous shipmaster perished in battle. She repelled a larger force swiftly and decisively, thus earning her current role.

Back in the present, her lower mandibles tapped once. Information streamed in from her officers, confirmed by the feeds on the screens on either side of the hologram. Two large swaths of space, larger than any recorded, were painted a dull red just behind the moon. Two probes were sent to investigate, none of which had returned. A swift hand gesture and patrol group Alpha, marked by blue arrows, ventured towards the anomaly. A few tense minutes later and the arrows merged with the anomaly, their signal lost.

She expected this. She called for the ship's AI, "Avalon, do we have a visual on Alpha's position?"

The Smart AI popped up on the hologram next to Hestia-VI. His visage was that of a knight, worn and haggard. Yet his armor, while marred, had a regal cape flowing outwards that depicted the knights of the round table.

Looking at Is 'Tecam through his digital helmet, the AI responded in a gravelly tone, "Affirmative." Stern eyes flicked over to the side where a live video feed opened. "Satellite is tracking Alpha. They are about the enter the dark side of the moon."

Nodding in dismissal, the AI blinked out. No fanfare like most other AI's. Is 'Tecam appreciated that from the human-made AI. She then looked at the feed, noting that the patrol would be out of visual range in a few minutes.

" _Two probes disappear while investigating a slip-space whisper. Nothing unusual. But the second probe should've recalculated its course to not meet the same fate as the first one. That suggests a much bigger anomaly… or an attack."_ She thought. Her reptilian eyes blinked sideways, her warrior instincts sensing the fight that was about to come.

"Have _Zenith_ station reorient itself to aim at these coordinates." She barked at the nearest communications officer. A moment later, the ODP in the hologram showed that it was rotating before coming to its final position.

"Ma'am," a crewman reported in, " _Zenith_ station has finished its reorientation. Awaiting further orders."

In a very human gesture, Is 'Tecam nodded. "Understood. They are to be on stand-by until further notice."

The order was carried out promptly. Silence reigned until relevant information presented itself once more. A yellow screen displayed this time, depicting vital information. Is 'Tecam's eyes swiveled through the information as quickly as she could. More and more alarm etched itself into her features as her eyes seemingly stopped blinking.

Near a roar, she called out to the AI, "Avalon, put the fleet on red alert. Have _Samt_ station reinforce _Zenith's_ position."

"Immediately." 'Tecam saw the armored AI's grip on his broadsword tighten. Avalon's helmeted shifted to the side, a new window appearing. "Incoming transmission from just outside the red zone."

Both 'Tecam's mandibles clacked once in anticipation. "Is it from Alpha?"

"Affirmative." 'Tecam's nostrils flared with relief. Avalon continued, "A video file to be precise. It's being transmitted through one of our drones." The AI narrowed his eyes. 'Tecam mirrored the expression. _"Why from a drone and not directly from Alpha patrol?"_ Both thought.

The video displayed the answer. It paused as tactical data was minimized to the top left as the video file now encompassed most of the viewing area. Patrol group Alpha was situated just shy of 50,000 kilometers from the epicenter of the anomaly wherein lay seven unidentified contacts before them. A minute passed like a coiled spring, tense and volatile. Then, a bright yellow beam exploded from two of the unknowns. 50,000 kilometers didn't seem all that distant anymore as the beams hit the frigate. Its shields popped and less than a quarter of a second later, two red beams were fired. The frigate was bisected, a chill running down 'Tecam's spine. Was this how the humans felt when the Covenant's ships sliced open theirs? It was a terrible thing to be on the receiving end.

Information filtered through the holo-screen. _"Ionized particle weaponry highly effective against shields. Unknown frequency. Secondary plasma stream highly effective against armor. Threat level assessment: Retreat."_

The video resumed. The two corvettes fired off two plasma torpedoes each. The blue torpedoes splashed against the shields of the unknowns, and to 'Tecam's chagrin, they were harmless. The same weaponry that fired at the frigate fired at the corvettes. Needless to say, debris is what was left of the corvettes. The video returned to the image of the seven unknowns, the image pausing and zooming, showing the hostile ships.

"Avalon." 'Tecam growled lowly as the AI sprung forth. "Send the file to the rest of the battlegroup and Beta patrol." 'Tecam proceeded to send a communique to Beta patrol saying, "Commander. I want your patrol stationed in Capstone's orbit. Provide support to our troops on Meridian from there if they need it."

Avalon once more appeared. His blue form pulsated rapidly as his eyes locked with 'Tecam. "Ma'am. Hostile ships detected in sector 12. They are moving at a constant speed towards us." Avalon's morose look deepened. "Enemy jamming detected. Hestia system is isolated from outside communication."

'Tecam did growl this time. "Avalon, coordinate _Zenith_ and _Samt_ stations. Target the seven-kilometer ships as soon as they are within range." 'Tecam ordered. Code travelled up and down the broadsword planted into the digital dirt. "Deploy our fighters and have our frigates move to their flanks. Send in our heavy destroyers to support them."

The tactical holo-projector was alight with the soon-to-be fight. 'Tecams three frigates and two heavy destroyers raced towards the hostiles. Only four of the unknowns were actually heading towards the group to engage them. The frigates quickly dispersed as soon as the heavy destroyers got a chance to fire. They peeled away and veered to surround the four interlopers. MACs were fired, but became evident that they were of little use. The seven-kilometer ship had its shields flash briefly as the two ODP's unleashed their weapons of immense power.

Nothing happened. The shield absorbed the shots that would've even gutted a CSO-class supercarrier. 'Tecam felt her mandibles grinding against each other. Her fist tightened. An alarm sounded and another yellow screen popped up. The biggest ship, a twelve-kilometer behemoth, and its escorts were making their way towards her ship.

"Enemy ships deploying fighters." Avalon's eyes gleamed with hostility. 'Tecam noticed this, but instead focused on the information displayed in front of her.

"Have our fighters engage them and move us towards sector 3." She ordered. It was minute, so minute an organic would not have noticed, but Avalon had paused.

"Confirmed."

Hard-light cannon fire peppered the shields of the frigates that were flanking the seven-kilometer ships. Their superior maneuverability and speed allowed them to evade the frontal weaponry, but not so much the hard-light weaponry. The stalwart frigate activated its thrusters, proceeding to slide around its opponent. This is also had the benefit of making its profile much harder to hit. It lined up its main MAC and fired along with a battery of Onagers. This was followed by two salvos of Archer missiles, which streamed towards the seven-kilometer warship. The missiles were shot down in rapid succession before the frigate had to peel away as the hard-light onslaught finally managed to penetrate its shields. The other frigate wasn't so lucky as it realized the beam was not a fixed beam unlike the energy projector of Covenant ships. It got hit by particle cannon fire, its shields failing and multiple sectors being breached. Crew was vented into space, but the captain refused to go out without doing something. As the red plasma was charging, the captain lifted all limitations. All missiles were launched, including its store of Shivas, which were followed by a veritable blanket of Archers. 1200 missiles flew towards the sleek ship. Half a second later it was followed up by two macs just as the plasma stream finished charging. Even if the plasma stream hadn't gutted the frigate, the Shivas would've evaporated it since they were fired at near point blank range.

Finally, the monstrous ship had its shields felled. Several sections were exposed into space, two holes were seen where the MACs had landed. No, more impressively, the rounds of the MACs could be seen impacted inside the ship. To say that it was weakened would give it too little credit. The ship turned with a speed that belied its size, it's more powerful anti-ship hard-light weaponry targeting the remaining frigate. At the same moment, the frigate fired its MAC and another swarm of missiles, the Forerunner ship launched its own wave of projectiles. The targets were the weapon emplacements of the shield-less frigate. Despite a valiant effort, the frigate could not do much as multiple missiles took out large chunks of metal and flesh. Something critical was hit and the frigate was dead in the water as all the lights blinked out like a last breath.

The two MACs that were loosed, miraculously hit the exact same spots as the MACs of the previous frigate. This was the final nail as the warship cracked in half. It was finally out of the fight.

This could not be said about the other ships. The second seven-kilometer ship was duking it out with two destroyers and a frigate. It opened a portal and made a micro-jump towards the frigate. Unexpecting this, the frigate tried to veer away and slammed into the shield at an angle. Its hull dented and shields were immediately depleted. A burning plasma stream and multiple missiles effectively disintegrated the ship as the two destroyers launched flare after flare in hopes of distracting the remaining missiles.

'Tecam's eyes rushed through the data. Two ship losses. And that was including the help from two ODPs, one of the most powerful weapons in the known galaxy. She looked over at a visual representation of the ODPs. She could almost feel the powerful thumps that fired the super-heavy rounds. They impacted with fierce force against the monstrosity, this time, popping the shields. At the very least, their own fighters were faring better despite the durable shields of the hostile fighters. She immediately ordered a bombing run on the shield-less ship. One of the two destroyers, being slower than a frigate, was nearly enveloped in yellow beams. The ship crackled as it seemed to have overloaded a few systems. Finally, the red plasma stream melted the face of the ship, rendering the MACs inoperable. However, due to its immensely thick armor and careful construction, it managed to retreat with just that much damage as the other destroyer, frigate, and the bombing run managed to overwhelm the defenses of the Forerunner ship. As the MAC rounds dug deep into the ship, the bombers launched their payload directly into the gaping holes. This effectively compounded the explosion from within and destroyed the ship.

'Tecam's blood pulsed. That's what she would do. Once shields were down she would send bombers to target the holes left by the MACs. Otherwise the bombs would splash almost harmlessly against the outer armor. The small celebration did not distract her as she noticed the smaller four-kilometer ship trying to sneak by. She ordered fire on the ship immediately by the ODPs, which they complied. Adjusting their aim, the stations fired and completely decimated the ship. 'Tecam's nostrils flared and her eyes gleamed savagely. _"Good, the smaller ships are weak to ODPs."_

A flashing warning erupted across all holo-projectors and training immediately made her call to her crew to brace. Her sturdy ship was rocked like a tugboat in a maelstrom. Despite this, her eyes remained open as her body shook, she tried to see the damage reports that were flooding in. In a way, she was glad her ship was targeted because it didn't seem like her escorts would've survived a full salvo.

"Fire on their flag-." Before 'Tecam could finish her order, dozens of micro-slips-pace ruptures were detected directly on the front of the stations. Fighters streamed out of the portals, followed by what seemed like gunboats and another four-kilometer ship. She tried to turn her ship to defend the station, but she knew instinctively that it would be too late. Despite the pulse lasers, Onagers, missile launchers and various other defensive systems, the surprise attack had overwhelmed one of the stations. The four-kilometer ship unleashed its full arsenal at once, decimating _Samt_ station as _Zenith_ tried to hastily retreat. The Forerunner ship launched multiple missiles, which turned out to be a form of fighter craft carrier before it exploded, the reason being _Zenith_ station.

While this had happened, the enemy flagship had opened fired again. 'Tecam growled. The charge time was much faster than its smaller counterparts. She ordered her escorts to pull back, even going as far as to try and cover one of them with her own ship. The first one survived as her ship took the brunt of the particle weaponry and even managed to block most of the missiles. However, the second escort was ripped apart and flung away in various pieces.

She looked at the tactical holo-projector once more. _Zenith_ station was being swarmed by the surviving fighters. But it was holding. In fact, they were pretty much swatting the enemy fighters like they were nothing. The station was alight with pulse laser weaponry, flashes of Onager fire, and plumes of anti-fighter missiles. With no imminent danger to the station, she ordered. "Avalon, tell _Zenith_ station to fire continuously on the enemy flagship. Full speed."

Avalon's figure didn't appear immediately. Avalon sputtered into existence bent on one knee, his broadsword seemed to just barely support his weight. He looked up, his digital voice crackling. "Done." His form winked out, then blinked right in as a simple orb this time. "I'm under hostile AI attack." He paused momentarily, "Ma'am. I have been compromised." The blue orb that represented him was quickly fading.

Is 'Tecam solemnly stared at the dim sphere. "I understand. Initiating Cole Protocol." She initiated the purge immediately.

"It was an honor." Avalon whispered. One second later the AI was purged.

"Ma'am. Avalon managed to contain the cyber intrusions. All functions have been slaved to manual. Report says Forerunner AIs were trying to hack our planetary defenses, but he managed to stop them at the cost of shortening his lifespan." A helmsman reported.

'Tecam stared at the empty projection stand. _"So he would've perished in battle either way. Truly, he was a Sangheili in spirit_ ," she thought as her mandibles flared out in rage. " _I will burn these trespassers in your honor."_

In that span of time, the ODP had already fired three rounds into the flagship while her escort had fired its own MACs and barrage of missiles. She turned up towards one of the outside viewing screens and saw her last escort turn into nothing more but twisted metal and fire.

"Energy projector ready to fire. _Samt_ station firing in 7 seconds." The weapons officer called out.

'Tecam leaned forward, a savage visage marring her face. "Synchronize the attack. Launch all torpedoes. Pulse lasers to maximum range, weaken rear shields if you have to."

Then she saw it. What her own ship was capable of. Her battlecruiser lit up the space between her and the enemy with laser strikers and a venerable shower of plasma torpedoes. Her own ship rocked as her shields went offline and multiple decks explosively decompressed. She quickly barked out an order to eject the damaged decks in order to save the others from structural breakdown. She hated abandoning men, but she needed to focus on the enemy.

The fourth round from the ODP hit its mark, the shield popping out of existence. A few milliseconds later the destructive thin beam from the energy projector cored through the ship. Melting hull and damaging systems. The red plasma stream that was concentrating off the bow of the Forerunner ship dispersed as it went offline. Finally, the plasma torpedoes all homed in on the open wound, digging deep into it and burning it from the inside out.

'Tecam waited for any change. Nothing happened. The flagship was burning with plasma fire even if it wasn't exploding. It just floated there, a blue torch in the nighttime sky. The ODP fired again, shaking her from her thoughts as the ship finally cracked and large pieces of it floated in every direction.

Her relief was short-lived. "Ma'am, more enemy ships have entered the system. Reports from the ground say that they are under heavy fire from Promethean forces."

The tactical holo display showed four more enemy ships. These reinforced the two remaining Forerunner ships in system as they swatted aside the remained allied ships. 'Tecam's eyes narrowed dangerously as she fought the snarl building up within her.

"Open communication with _Zenith_ station and groundside." Her forceful words startled the communications officer as he immediately opened a channel. Once on, she ordered, "Commander Presley. I want you to move _Zenith_ station to the other side of Meridian. Once there, move the station to Capstone and reinforce Beta patrol."

The communique clicked off as another screen replaced it. "Commander O'Brian. Are the planetary defenses operational?" She demanded with haste.

The grim and tight look on O'Brian's face showed he was prepared before he even opened his mouth. "Affirmative ma'am. If the enemy decides to attack us, we'll be ready to receive them."

"Hold on to the last man commander. My instincts are telling me that these Forerunner forces are after whatever ONI was here for. I'll buy you time." The Sangheili stared at the human. Once enemies, they were now working together. No other words were passed between the two as the tactical feed came back. The new forces were dangerously close and her shields were still offline

'Tecam keyed the holographic interface for ship-wide communications. "All non-essential personnel, abandon the ship." Her mandibles clicked rapidly. With her blood running hot, she felt a bitter taste at allowing people to flee the ship. Sangheili never ran away. But this was a new age and not all of the crew were Sangheili. Still, she was proud her bridge crew had refused to leave.

"We will annihilate these trespassers." Her anger-filled tenor filled the bridge, which growled, cheered, and became dauntless. She knew she couldn't take even the smallest ship head-on now, not without the ODP, but made the ship fire everything it had in its arsenal to slow the 4k kilometer Forerunner ship.

It fired in turn, a plasma stream more powerful than anything the Covenant had cut through her ship. It gutted it, barely missing the interior bridge. The damaged caused a wall inside the bridge to buckle and eventually, internal pressure caused it to rip off. Multiple crew mates were flung out before the bridge's own internal atmosphere shield came online and stabilized the room. 'Tecam momentarily stared at the opening, noticing the arm that had not left with its owner stuck on a sharp end.

Her voice raised to a roar as she commanded what was left of her crew, "Overload the fusion reactors. Divert shield strength to weaponry, I don't care if it melts the guns. We're going to delay them as much as we can. This _is_ our final stand."

The blood of the crew boiled as they threw in their own cheers and roars. "Open a slip-space portal. Target the center of the enemy formation." She ordered.

With the reactors running hot and bordering on critical, the tear in space appeared in no time. The ship entered before promptly appearing right in the middle of the enemy formation.

"Launch anti-slip-space probes. Fire at the nearest ship, full speed." The ship lurched forward as the momentary surprise of the enemy wore off. They fired their hard-light cannons at her ship, which rocked as large chunks were chipped away. The plasma lines of her own ship ran hot as she fired a torpedo every two seconds at their small 4-kilometer ship. The energy project continuously fired instead of recharging. From the outside, the front of her ship was beginning to melt but despite this, the beam kept firing. Pulse laser fire rained like the blood of her crew in a never-ending torrent. She viciously grinned as her reptilian eyes widened when the abnormal offensive managed to destroy the shields. The beam began melting away as she shouted the launch of all plasma torpedoes at the hole the beam was creating.

The torpedoes launched just as multiple red streams cored through her ship and the bridge. Is 'Tecam and the remaining crew were instantly vaporized, not even realizing that they had died. However, it was too late to stop the engines and the forward momentum of the battlecruiser. It slammed into the Forerunner ship, knocking it off course as the reactors finally reached their peak and detonated in a blinding blue light. The wounded ship's superstructure caved and buckled, its own pinch fusion reactors heat loads finally exceeding their capacity and spinning out of control. The cataclysmic explosion of the _Twilight's Faith's_ reactors caused the Forerunner ship's reactors to also explode. The resulting explosion, mixed with the already occurring one, created an intense ionized plasma field that managed to drain shields and even disable three ships.

Said explosion could be seen from the ground, particularly by one commander O'Brian. He let out of soft breath of admiration. The Sangheili had indeed bought them the time they needed. The counter-offensive would begin _now_.

 **January 9, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar;** **Hestia System, Orbit of Hestia-V, Meridian, Radio-Telescope Array.**

Commander O'Brian looked at the sky filled with incoming Forerunner aircraft. In the background, as if to remind him of the sacrifice made, a blue-orange halo could be seen. Even from this distance he could see the expanding cloud violently shooting tendrils of lightning. He waited, watching the timer in his stopwatch slowly trickle down to zero. Then after, he sent a signal to his forces as his calculating gaze swept over the consoles and his ears picked up the chatter of his officers.

On the streets of the primary stations of Meridian, Wolverines opened fire to the incoming aircraft. Each Wolverine fired a barrage of twenty missiles before reloading and firing once again. Closer to the stations, Tyrant and Onager canons, and Shrike turrets opened fire. Blue, purple and yellow explosions illuminated the night sky; the shier intensity of the defenses massacring Phaetons, Despair fighters and the carrier-like fighters.

The first wave of enemy aircraft was completely annihilated by the unexpected defenses, though the celebration didn't last long. For a moment, the dark sky lit up, turning a menacing red before the stream of ionized-particle fire breached the atmosphere, decimating the AAG in Apogee station. O'Brian watched the signals of Apogee station go from online to a red "lost." He frowned as his hands swept across the tactical-table before him, consolidating the information he was receiving.

Outside, Meridian's radio-telescope array turned, their sensors broadcasting the location of the Forerunner ship that had fired, to O'Brian. A separate satellite feed confirmed the location and displayed the trajectories of possible counter-fire, focusing them in a single point via laser targeting. O'Brian smirked, he was going to use the same tactic that Is 'Tecam used to destroy the enemy.

On the streets, the Tyrant and Onager canons targeted the given coordinates and fired overloaded payloads. Dozens of MAC rounds impacted on the same location: the midsection of the four-thousand kilometer ship. O'Brian felt a sense of elation as he realized the ships were still shield-less from Is'Tecam's ship explosion. The rounds dug violently into the armor, like claws ripping apart prey. The plasma fire from the Tyrants only helped to further dig further into the hull.

It seemed that once the outer armor was pierced, the inner layer wasn't quite so tough. Despite powerful counter-laser fire strong enough to destroy some of the Onager rounds in the sky, thanks to the ship's AIs combined efforts, enough of the rounds eventually caused the monster of a ship to snap in half. Systems went critical as small orange explosions surrounded the ship. The Forerunner ship was effectively put out of the fight as it descended and crashed somewhere in the mountains between the stations. Bits and pieces of melted hull peppered the sky like night-time comets, some of the debris crashing into buildings of Meridian's stations.

Of course, O'Brian didn't personally see the crash. He just saw the representation of the ship on his tactical-table with the simplest outlines mimicking the crash. He allowed a rare smirk to grace his normally stoic features, his eyes reflecting the satisfaction that he felt for the show of resistance against the aggressors. Still, he cemented his features soon after while looking at the coordinates of the crash site.

Immediately after he called, shouting, to the officers in the room, "Their shields are still disabled. If any other ships break atmosphere, target them in the same manner with our AAGs."

There was a chorus of "Yes sir!" as each respective officer went about their duties to make that happen. O'Brian's gaze shifted back to the tactical-table. He filtered for ground forces and noted that Promethean ground forces were attacking Meridian and Jorta stations while Apogee was now completely silent.

A grim look was set upon his face, Apogee was lost and there was nothing that he could do about it, but he persevered, focusing in the more pressing matters. The coordination of his forces to counter the enemy more effectively. Instead of meeting the enemy head-on, he ordered delaying actions. Ambushes, mines, long-range fire, and strategic retreats once the enemy breaks through certain checkpoints. No decisive combat action was to be taken. He was consolidating all his forces to form a defensive perimeter around the space elevator. That was the only position that he could not afford to lose, no matter the cost.

 **XXXXX**

On an abandoned office building within Meridian station, Private Yib adjusted the sight of his beam rifle. Orange and blue lights could be seen down in the streets, his sharp hearing registering the staccato sound of machine gun fire. He peered through the holographic lens, aiming at the sweeping orange lights. He fired two consecutive shots, the air sizzling before him before switching targets and firing one last shot that caused his gun to overheat. He let go of the stock to avoid getting burnt. His beak clacked a couple of times, Yib relishing the kill as he once again began his search for more targets.

A pair of Despair fighters passed overhead, their payload being delivered to the entrenched Alliance forces. The electrical orange explosions took out the machine gunners, the explosion itself buffeting against the weakened buildings, forcing them to collapse upon the unfortunate soldiers that could not get out of the way in time. Dust kicked up, obscuring everything within thirty meters.

Still, Yib didn't have time for sight-seeing. He had a job. The Kig-Yar took advantage of the slight obfuscation to take out three knights in rapid succession. He paused in his death-dealing to look at the status of his squad. His sharp eyes saw five weapons firing from within a store. His beak opened and a slight hiss escaped. A frown for those untrained in the Kig-Yar body language. He put away his rifle, switching to a designated targeting laser and aimed it at a group of Prometheans. Seconds later, Fox cannon artillery fire rained on the Forerunner forces.

The loud sound would've deafened anyone, but Yib had special protection against it, courtesy of his helmet. He muted the sounds via a mental signal, the work of his neural-implant, before going back to full once more. And just in time. His excellent hearing heard the tell-tale sound of a micro-slip-space jump the Prometheans were fond of. He rolled to his left, using the agility that his species was known for. Suppressor fire sizzled into the ground he was previously occupying, and in one swift motion, his plasma pistol fell into his claw.

Just as the Promethean soldier had locked onto Yib, the Kig-Yar snapped his hard-light shield to life. It was the perfect counter to projectiles made of hard-light. Yib exited the cubicle space he had landed himself in whilst firing his plasma pistol just before the point of overheating. Yib had managed to crack the soldier's armor, exposing the core within. Just as he was about to deliver the final blow, the Promethean did a micro-jump behind Yib. Despite Yib managing to dodge, two bullets managed to hit him. One was a mere graze, but the other left a hole in his back, wounding the sniper. The modified hard-light-bullets easily penetrating his armor.

Yib let out a shriek of pain, his claw holding the trigger in preparation for an overcharged shot. The Promethean did another micro-jump in front of Yib, intending to finish him off before Yib vaulted between the legs of the soldier. The roll send tendrils of pain into his lungs and chest, but it gave him the opportunity to let off his shot directly into the core. Once he knew the Promethean wouldn't reconstruct itself, he realized that his team was trying to hail him.

"Yib! Don't forget, delaying actions only. We need to move to our secondary position _now_."

Apart from their agility, they were also known for their relative frailty when compared to other species. The wound wasn't bad, but he was feeling it more with each passing second. "Move." He commanded before trying to move his legs, which finally managed to start taking steps. Then he keyed in his squad, "I'll provide covering fire before following you."

"Understood."

He looked around, finding his beam rifle hiding under a rather heavy looking cabinet. His beak rapidly clacked in annoyance as he had to bend to get his rifle. He made his way back towards a window, spotting his squad through the scope. They were taking cover behind some destroyed vehicles, and just up ahead of them were some Prometheans, presumably the things they were hiding from. He steadied himself by pulling up a chair. Unlike the human counterparts, the beam rifle had no recoil. He managed to take out two soldiers before the rest scattered. Luckily for him, a squad of humans and Unggoys arrived and provided suppression fire while he continued to spot for any ambushes. With his squad safe, he dropped the beam rifle.

He tried to stand up, but found that he couldn't. In fact, he couldn't feel his legs. He looked down and saw his own blood pooling at his feet. Realizing that he was still sitting in a chair and let out a small, weak cackle. He always knew he'd die sitting on the job. A bright light shone on his face. _"Is this the light at the end of the tunnel that the Humans are fond of?"_ He thought. A second passed before he realized it was the sound of a hovering Phaeton.

" _I guess no-"_

The sound of structure failing, along an explosion, was heard by Yib's team a few streets away. The squad leader looked back, seeing the building in which Yib was, starting to fall, its structure finally succumbing under the strain put on it. He kept moving ahead, knowing that there was nothing that he could do, but honor his friend's death. Gamma squad would have its revenge soon enough for their fallen teammates.

 **XXXXX**

The command center mirrored the chaos that was taking place outside. O'Brian saw the position of Gamma team being overwhelmed, even with support from artillery strikes. He knew that he was only delaying the inevitable. He let out a breath. Of course, that _was_ the plan: delaying. He was just hoping that the reinforcements would get here in time, if not, well.

A shrill alarm resounded in the room. He made a hand gesture, calling upon the feed that was setting off the alarm. A venerable blanket of fighters was coming their way, essentially dive-bombing. The hair at the back of his neck rose. There had been waves previously, but nothing on this scale. With the threat of the ODP in Capstone protecting this side of Meridian, the Forerunner forces had yet to send any space-ships to do an orbital strike on them.

The Prometheans were being absurdly aggressive. He breathed as his AAGs immediately began firing at the fighters. He pinched the screen away and with his free hand, he brought an overview of the defensive guns that were firing in conjunction at the incoming screen of enemy fighters.

Something didn't seem right. Yes, it was an aggressive attack, but they weren't spreading out or trying to take air superiority. He pinched his fingers at the hologram and flicked them open, zooming out.

There he saw it. Even though it was being blocked by the wall of fighters, he saw a single carrier-like ship that was spewing forth these ships like an angry airborne fire ant colony. It almost seemed to respond to him having seen it, as it immediately dove towards the ground at frightening speed. It went past the speed the defensive guns could track, even with the help of an AI.

He knew this was bad news. He immediately called forth all reserve Warthogs, Spectres, and any other forces he could muster to congregate at the location of impact. And impact it did. It kicked up a huge cloud of dust, but not before transforming into an antenna like object. The ship, now turned antenna, pulsed with orange light as a surge of Promethean ground forces started teleporting in at incredible speeds. The comms-channel was filled with surprised and angered voices, all of them saying the same thing: The Prometheans had suddenly spawned on top of them. A small, flickering, orange light on the command center caught O'Brian's attention before the meaning of it sunk in.

"Arm yourselves!" O'Brian shouted as he pulled out the shotgun from beneath the holo-table. As soon as he cocked the trigger, the room was filled with cascading orange lights materializing Prometheans. Some of the officers were too slow to comprehend the order and were turned into nothing but digital noise.

O'Brian swept the room with his shotgun, obliterating two soldiers that were in his crosshairs. One Sangheili roared and pulled out twin energy swords. The highly ionized-gas ran through two Soldiers with nothing but the slightest resistance. He quickly followed the attack by impaling a few Crawlers that were threatening to jump on him.

O'Brian caught the flicker of a mote of light. It was streaming towards the Sangheili and O'Brian knew what would happen. He could also prevent it. Suppressor fire peppered his position, yet he still sprinted before diving into a roll as Promethean Soldier materialized behind the Sangheili, ready to end its life. O'Brian didn't know if Prometheans could feel anything, but it definitely reacted to him pressing his shotgun into its back. He fired, the shot easily penetrating all the way to its core at this close range. The Sangheili turned towards O'Brian, its mandibles closing in reverence as his head nodded. The moment passed and the same mandibles flared out, accompanied by a frenzied roar.

Not two minutes had passed and the fight was over. O'Brian went back to his post, still cautious and waiting another wave to spawn in. He flicked his wrist upwards, multiple windows appearing. He looked through all of them, trying to decipher what was relevant as quickly as he could. His hard face softened into a small smile. His forces were pressing towards the antennae ship. Multiple rockets warmed their way towards the ship, yet only one managed to hit as the Prometheans were dead set on defending the ship, even at the cost of their own troops.

The one shot, however, caused the enemy reinforcements to stall for a moment. That was the chance the gauss Warthogs took as they sped towards it, riddling the ship with holes. Some Promethean forces in mid-materialization were halted, disappearing completely. Not free of enemy forces yet, all rockets and plasma fuel rod rounds left, impacted the ship. They drilled a hole into it until it began to buckle and crackle with the energy of an impending explosion. All friendly forces retreated, the explosions increasing in frequency and intensity until it culminated in one final bang.

" _So, that antenna like thing serves as a relay of sorts."_ O'Brian thought before turning to the tactical-table. He typed in a few commands and sent the new orders to his troops. Minutes later, O'Brian observed the status of Meridian station with a satisfied look. With those ships being destroyed, enemy forces had dwindled down significantly to the point where defensive lines were no longer being overrun.

On most chokepoints, Cobras and Wolverines eliminated armor and air enemy support respectively; O'Brian's ground troops being successfully in stopping the Promethean advance. Though not all sections on the perimeter were having that kind of success, those that were already overrun, or deep within enemy lines, were beyond salvage. Still, for the amount of forces he had, they were doing a hell of a damn good job.

The very same Sangheili officer that O'Brian had helped asked for his attention. "Sir, we have activity at Apogee. An unknown object just appeared on our sensors."

The Sangheili officer grabbed the hologram and threw it to O'Brian. It quickly appeared on his table before O'Brian's hand moved over to it. He grabbed the sphere from bellow, expanding his fingers outwards. The action let him have a 3D view of the land around him. His thumb and index finger twirled, redirecting the angle of view. Multiple pings were being shown, with one blue circle catching his attention as the lettering beside it read "unknown." And then, a minute later, the icons that represented allied forces turned grey. This didn't necessarily mean they were lost, but it meant that they couldn't be contacted or get a status update.

O'Brian raised an eyebrow but before he could make any inquiries, a red pulse expanded on the topographic map. O'Brian held his breath. The energy pulse was fifty kilometer in diameter. Those outside the ring of influence were quickly overrun by Promethean forces. The VI of the command center quickly sorted through the increasing reports in the outer perimeter of Meridian station, its processors analyzing each one before showing O'Brian a single window. The energy detected had been some kind of energy weapon that had sent a massive shockwave.

He hit the holo-table in controlled anger. Just when he thought that they'd gotten a reprieve, something like _this_ happened.

"Send a drone to Apogee. I want to know what the fuck was that by yesterday." He ordered. His officers quickly obeying as he formed a tight fist before relaxing it slowly. A new fire was burning with him, one that would burn away the Prometheans.

"Sir, Commander Presley just sent a message." The human communications officer yelled over the din of noise in the command center, "A Forerunner frigate is coming to Meridian station's coordinates."

"Activate the spire shield and recall all forces within the shield's perimeter." O'Brian ordered. _"Even if our AAG were to fire on the ship, without our satellites to target it we wouldn't do the damage we need."_ He thought, clearly frustrated with the situation.

He tapped into the hologram that floated above the topographic map. Jorta station's representation camming into view. A large list of KIA and MIA floated next to the image. He swiped it away, the action bringing those that were active. He sighed. Theta squad was still there, hammering enemy lines wherever they could. It made sense; they did have the help of two Spartans. Not only that, but two Scorpion tanks were helping out. _"Likely the only two that survived from the previous company."_ He thought before tapping twice and dragged his finger down to the table itself. Now the topography was that of Jorta station and its surroundings. He frowned, noting that enemy forces had full control of the plaza.

A ping appeared and he tapped it. It was a live feed from the drone he had sent. He saw what could only be described as a giant Forerunner bird. Its wings, detached yet connected, expanded into a glorious omnipotent presence. Now he knew what ONI had been interested in. _"Those bastards."_ He shook his head, clearing his mind and refocusing on the important tasks before him. In this remote location, no one could of expect the Forerunners themselves to attack. He was thankful the civilians had been evacuated quickly under the guise of a drill.

"Sir." An excited voice caught his attention, "It's the fast response fleet. They have arrived."

The officer transferred the info. The radio-telescopes detecting the fleet along with the Forerunner ships that moved to engage them. He also got a communiqué from _Zenith_ station. They were moving around Capstone, relocating to get a firing solution on the enemy ships. The super MAC gun loaded and ready to fire at the Forerunner menace. However, a single Forerunner ship had also detected the energy build up. Said ship opened a slip-space portal, reappearing soon after close to the ODP. Luckily, _Zenith_ station was immediately reinforced by two ships from the recently arrived fast response fleet.

O'Brian stowed the video feed away, but kept it within his peripheral mind, which was allowed thanks to his neural interface. He looked back at the feed of the drone on Apogee, noticing immediately that it had detected the signals of survivors in the area. Not many as there were only four in total, two were registered as ONI operatives and the other two were Spartans-IV.

O'Brian directly controlled the drone, the silent motors changing so that the camera could face the large disturbance in the background. The large metallic Forerunner bird spread its wings as the drone detected unfathomable amounts of energy coalescing at its front. An energy wave blossomed throughout the area, strong enough to kick up dirt, gravel, and unprepared individuals. The defenseless drone's image became static before turning complete black. A ping on the topographic map showed everything not hardened electronically going down on an instant. The affected area, which made O'Brian swallow, was forty-kilometers in radius.

"Send one of our stealth pelicans to pick up our men in Apogee." He ordered. His peripheral mind brought up the image from the radio-telescopes. The two battlecruisers assisting _Zenith_ station had distracted said Forerunner ship long enough for _Zenith_ to align a shot and destroy it.

"Do we have any word from Theta squad?" He asked as he allowed himself a small smirk for the results that the fast response fleet was having. It seemed that the tables were about to be turned on their favor.

"Negative, though a stealth missile has been registered as fired from _Zenith_." The officer paused momentarily, receiving the relevant data, "The target is the main plaza at Jorta station."

O'Brian filtered through the onslaught of information long enough to give a reply. "Understood. Send in the phantoms for extraction as soon as Theta squad gives the okay."

 **XXXXX**

Outside of the shield provided by the spire, deep within enemy lines, a lone spec-ops Sangheili lithely made his way through the forces of Prometheans. He avidly avoided the ones with the bright, shimmering, lights as his camouflage did nothing to hide him from the dreaded promethean vision. His two beating Sangheili hearts drummed with war, enticing him to attack this vile foe. Yet, he stayed his hand for that would've caused his mission to fail, as well as doom his fellow allies. The unsuspecting Promethean soldier was let to live, if but for a moment.

Successfully disengaging from the enemy, the Sangheili deactivated his camouflage. Pulling out a detonator, he flipped the switch. The ground reverberated slightly as the explosions went off. Six explosions occurred one after the other destabilizing another of the antennae-like Forerunner ships, causing it to crash on the ground and sputter. As an added bonus, any Prometheans beneath it were utterly demolished.

The Sangheili's four mandibles flared widely, a savage grin. "This is Shadow leader to main command," Its deep reverberating voice echoed across the comms, "Mission success. Enemy ground reinforcements successfully neutralized."

"Understood Shadow squad, return to Meridian station to assist with the defenses. O'Brian out." Though the Sangheili didn't see it, O'Brian took a breath of relief.

 **January 9, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar;** **Hestia System, Orbit of Hestia-V, Meridian, Apogee Station.**

Buck ducked behind one of the crates as hard-light projectiles passed through where his head had been seconds ago. Reloading his assault rifle, he peaked through one of the many holes in the crate left behind by the hard-light bullets. A heartbeat later, Buck broke from cover and besieged the Promethean soldier with a full magazine of armor-piercing rounds. The soldier reacted, returning fire, but by that time its armor had been shredded away, exposing its core and thus ending its life. _"Un-life? Re-life?"_ Buck didn't know. _"It's dead and that's good enough."_ Just besides him, and doing a strafing run towards a titanium platform, Vale fired dual SMGs at the Crawlers who tried futilely to target her, even with the homing nature of their bullets.

A rapidly beeping warning flashed across Buck's HUD, which included relevant information, such as, direction and level of danger. Buck lunged himself into a roll as a dark sphere of energy swooped past him, going through, and disintegrating, the crate he was using as cover before hitting the elevator. The force of the resulting explosion seemingly absorbed the light itself for a moment before leaving behind a radioactive residue and very little from the scientists that had been in said elevator.

Even being a near miss, his shields had been drained half-way. Moving out of the line of fire, Buck ducked behind the platform that Vale was using as cover, his shields recharging seconds after.

"You know," Buck said, "This is the part where I say: I told you so!"

Reloading her SMGs, she answered sarcastically, "Would it make it okay if I said that I'm sorry?"

Vale could _hear_ Buck's lips quirking into that annoying half-smirk. "It'll be a start." And just as quickly as his retort had come, his focus was once more sharpened to be the knife he needed to be. He and Vale strafed opposite directions, firing upon the self-proclaimed Warden Eternal. "Elevator's out." Buck spoke through the helmet's radio. "Any suggestions as to how to get out of here?"

With that remark, another orb of dark energy tried to swallow them whole. They nimbly dodged once more as the Warden Eternal called out to them, "And just like before, you animals keep bringing chaos and blood to the galaxy." His jaw parted as he let out a soft growl at the ignorance of the Humans before him, "The mantle of responsibility belongs to the Forerunners and their created. Do not mistake our past for a meaningless leap of faith."

" _He sure loves his speeches,"_ Buck thought before opening a channel to Vale. "Do you still have those flash grenades?" He asked, firing at the side of the Warden's head, channeling his ire towards him. He steeply rolled, using his jets to add to his momentum as a bright light evaporated the cover he had just been using.

"I have three with me." Vale saw a crane hanging with material and shot the tether holding it up. It summarily crashed on top of the Warden who let out another irritable speech while trying to take the fight up close and personal. "Why?" She asked as she raced headlong towards the Warden only to slide under his gigantic frame. She grabbed one of the many metallic protrusions and used her sliding movement to haul herself up and onto his back, momentarily emptying her clip into the Warden's undefended back. She quickly hipped off when the dark sphere started forming above his head again.

At this juncture, Buck fired directly into the Warden's face. "If we time it right, your flash grenades, in combination with my two EMPs should overload their targeting systems long enough for us to get to the elevator. Once there, we can use our jetpacks to get to the emergency stairs. Or what's left of them. Whoa!" Buck grunted as a crate was sent flying towards him, training and enhanced armor saved him from being a paste on a wall. His shields caught the crate at an angle though, draining them slightly.

"Not like we have much choice." Vale replied as her weapons clicked empty. She switched her SMGs for her pistol, rapidly dispatching some more Crawlers that seemingly came out of nowhere. Thankfully only Crawlers for now.

Buck primed a countdown on his helmet through a mental command, Vale winking her lights green, showing that she had received the sync. Buck started the countdown, magnetized the assault rifle onto his back, and primed his grenades in one fluid motion, all while dodging enemy fire and attacking the Warden with terrible one-liners and quips. The timer reached zero and both threw their respective remaining grenades. Even the Warden himself took a couple of steps back from the lights and the pulse. The Crawlers fared far worse, some outright detonating. But all were affected by the synergistic explosion of light and electromagnetic energies.

Buck and Vale had run just outside the range of the explosion, diving head on onto the empty elevator shaft. Once on the elevator, both activated their jetpacks, barely avoiding the assault of hard-light weaponry and an energy sphere coming their way. Their visors highlighted the stairs immediately, making it easier for them to get to them.

Once on the top, both Spartans took on their surroundings. ONI security forces desperately tried to fight back the wave of Promethean forces. Powerful drones were used for hit-and-run tactics. Being strong enough to carry machine guns, the drones took out the weaker Crawlers and wounded Soldiers. Whenever they took fire, they would veer off before automated and manned turret fire raked the ground with hundreds of bullets. On a scaffolding, just overlooking the bridge they were defending, ONI agents with DMRs focused down targets with great marksmanship. The automated machine guns, firing from the sides as support. To the side, the scientist that managed to escape from the chamber bellow, took cover in one of the many labs that habituated the cave.

Sadly, they were running out of ammunition. As Buck and Vale made their way to anyone who could give them a sit-rep, a drone that had ran out of ammunition made a suicidal dive straight into the face of a Knight, an explosion engulfing said knight once the drone impacted it.

"Who's in charge?" Buck asked upon reaching the waypoint in his HUD.

A young private scurried over, staying low as bolts and bullets alike sailed dangerously close. "You are now sir." He replied as his eyes furtively glanced at every potential avenue of attack.

Buck, assault rifle at the ready, pushed the private out of the way. A few hard-light rounds impacted on his shields before he returned fire promptly. The offending Promethean Soldier raised a defiant roar, disappearing in a micro-jump just in time as Buck fired at it. It reappeared before Buck, but the super-soldier was already on it in less than a heartbeat. Pulling his pistol out and beneath its faceplate, he emptied the chamber straight into the skull, causing it to evaporate into feathers of light.

Buck looked at the private still sprawled on the floor and issued his order. "We have to evacuate the scientists from the area. There's a few warthogs at the entrance of the cave. Use them to get to the space elevator and get off world."

An explosion buffeted them. He turned and saw deep, charring, holes gauged into the machine gunners. Their bodies fell to the floor, sizzling and ebbing away into motes of light. He quickly picked up the private, his voice sharp and authoritative. "Go! Use the labs as cover to get to the 'hogs. We'll cover you."

Buck and Vale didn't wait for a reply. Immediately, Buck tossed his own pistol to Vale while taking up residence on the machine gun. He pressed the triggers and was rewarded with the roaring and a hail of bullets that streamed across the bridge into the incoming Prometheans. Vale encouraged the behavior by protecting his flanks. She went for headshots against the Crawlers to conserve ammunition, and close-quarters-combat for the stray soldier that managed to move across. Another explosion from amidst the ranks of the Prometheans informed them that the final drone had used its kamikaze attack. This had the immediate effect of weakening the supports of the bridge further to the point of collapse. Titanium bearings and beams fell, crushing all who were not fast enough to move out of the way.

Both, Vale and Buck's sytems identified a threat fast approaching from their flanks. The dreaded Knight. It had somehow still survived the detonation of the previous drone. It shrieked and both Spartan-IVs immediately knew what would come next. They rolled to the side as the Knight zig-zagged using micro-jumps to shorten the distance. Despite their quick reflexes, the blade had managed to weaken Vale's shields. It didn't help that Watchers actively shielded and healed the Knight. Buck dispatched the Watchers as the Knight set its sights on Vale. She promptly drew an energy blade amidst a roll. It backhanded her, the alarm blaring at her. Being shield-less did not deter her, as, instead, she ran full speed at the Knight with her jets adding to her speed. Said Knight met the charge head on, once more teleporting in front of her.

However, she had expected this and jumped as high as she could. The Knight scanned the area, not realizing that Vale had jumped high. She overcharged her flight system before descending rapidly towards the unsuspecting Knight. Her aim was true and the blade sunk deep into its head. It fell apart into a multitude of brilliant lights.

Buck whistled in appreciation, the action getting him tackled by a Crawler of all things. Buck wrestled the Crawler, muttering something about Chihuahuas being tougher before snapping its neck. He huffed in indignation before his radio burst on. "Sir, we got to the warthogs." The soldier at the other end informed. "We think that we can hold the enemy off long enough for you two to come to us."

"Negative," Buck answered, "get those scientists to safety. If they die, then our mission will be a failure."

The silence informed Buck of the hesitation the soldier was beset with. "Understood sir. Echo out."

His HUD painted an orange object quickly descending upon him. Reactive subsystems kicked in and launched him backwards. A pulse grenade landed right where Buck was moments ago, the pulse field expanding immediately around the turret. Soon after, he saw it disintegrate in the pulse explosion.

"Damn it!" Buck swore, "Vale! We have to get out of here now!"

Both Spartans turned towards the incoming threat. Another knight had appeared. The knight was bigger than those that they had fought so far, two brilliant orbs being displayed on the sides of its black armor. The heavy knight started to charge its incineration canon, but then it stopped, disappearing soon after. The rest of the Promethean forces around the Spartans teleporting out of the cave as well.

"Why are they retreating?" Buck asked aloud to no one in particular.

Vale leered at him before the cave shook. Rocks started falling and debris was launched in a westwards direction. Said debris also included the Spartans themselves as they were hurled through the air. Their shields blared an alarm as their HUD momentarily displayed static. In response to the sudden loss of function, the hydrostatic gel in their armor was set to maximum as their armor locked up to prevent wearer injury. With the lack of mobility, both Spartans were hurled towards the collapsed bridge, sinking into the waters bellow. Their last recorded picture being the sight of the Guardian rising from its chamber, menacingly raising its wings as if waking from a long slumber.

 **XXXXX**

"Finally." Buck muttered.

The suit had finally restarted from cold boot. He could feel the gel decreasing in density, a softening effect across the entire breadth of his body. At the same time, he could feel his blood flow as the hydrostatic gel receded. The helmet came online and his HUD cameras displayed the picture of the outside world.

"Huh, I guess Spartans don't float." Buck chuckled as he realized he was underwater.

Large rocks and a metal frame he couldn't quite guess where it came from, was pinning him and Vale. The only difference was that Vale was face down on the muddy waters. He grabbed whatever rubble that was on top of him and pushed until it was either off, or floating away in the current. He stuck his boots into the mud to get traction and hauled off the debris off Vale.

"Taking a dirt nap?" Buck coyly remarked. Vale didn't appreciate it as she got up, refusing Buck's outstretched hand.

The current was strong, strong enough to pull a half-ton Spartan. This didn't bother Buck and Vale as they used their flight systems to whatever degree of functionality that was left in them. They weaved through continuously falling obstacles until they observed that the rain of debris had calmed down. Vale saw an intruding metal beam and latched onto it, grabbing Buck's outstretched arm. Together, they hauled themselves up and out of the water.

Breathing heavily, Buck pulled off his helmet, "Phew, glad our suits are pressurized. The water would've messed with my hair." He quipped, Vale not really paying attention.

"My shield and navigation systems are fried." Vale said, "What about yours?"

Buck looked at the holographic display on his left arm, "Same." He answered. "Seems like communication systems are still responding though." He added.

Vale nodded, noting too that her communication systems were still working. Quickly she locked in a long-range communication channel to the rest of Osiris.

"Locke, Tanaka; do any of you copy?" Static was her reply, so she tried once more, "Locke, Tanaka; do you copy? Over."

It didn't seem like she would get a reply until Tanaka's voice broke through the static. "Vale?" Something must've happened on their end as well as both, Buck and Vale, heard Tanaka coughing.

"Tanaka, what's your status?" A worried tone crept into Vale's voice.

"I'm fine, just got a slight concussion." Tanaka replied after a brief cough. "Can't say the same about Locke."

"What happened to boss-man?" Buck cut in.

"We were attacked by the armor that the scientist were analyzing." Tanaka reported. "Locke's unconscious at the moment, and my scans reveal multiple fractures on his body." Static briefly won out before Tanaka could be heard again, "…appened to you two? Why's the Guardian activated?"

"That armor that attacked you is the Warden Eternal, or so it calls itself. He is the one that activated the Guardian while Promethean forces ambushed us." Vale responded.

In a rare moment, Buck's serious tone came out as he ordered, "Tanaka, take Locke and move to the space elevator, hopefully our pelican is still there. Vale and I will rendezvous with you there."

A bit of static surged, but quietened down, "Understood. Good luck to you two." Tanaka's voice then cut off as the ground shook a bit.

"So, what brilliant plan do you have to get us out of here?" Vale asked as she checked her energy knife, which had surprisingly survived the massive ECM storm.

Buck looked at the river and pointed, "We follow the river. I remember seeing it on our way to Apogee. With some luck and we can find some vehicles back by the landing zone."

Vale scoffed. "You can see and remember a random river, but you can't see a Crawler tackling you?"

Buck raised his arms in a disarming manner. "Whoa, shots fired. In my defense, that was one of the biggest Crawlers I'd ever seen."

Vale shook her head. "They're all the same size Buck."

Vale could practically see the grin behind Buck's helmet as he finished adjusting it. After a brief moment of re-checking their systems diagnostics, they were off. Both Spartans moved, following the river downhill. It wasn't long before another shockwave, though much less intense, sprung forth from the same general direction as the previous one. This caused rocks to tumble and roll towards the Spartans-IV, who deftly maneuvered between the falling debris. Despite their dexterity, neither wanted to be in the cave once it collapsed, so they double-timed it, making extensive use of their propulsion systems.

 **January 9, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar;** **Hestia System, Orbit of Hestia-V, Meridian, Jorta station.**

The suit systems had decided that Locke had had enough rest. Injecting him with a heavy cocktail of pain killers and a colloquial called "wakeners," Locke woke with a start, a dull throbbing making itself home somewhere in his ribs. Thankfully, he didn't have to guess where as the on board medical suit showed him exactly where and how bad the damage was. It also seemed that his left arm was broken. Locke grunted, noticing that part of the Mantis was still on top of it. It was with fortune that it was only the lower half as he was able to pry it off, despite his damaged state.

He succumbed to a wave of lightheadedness, making him lie down once more. At the very least, this let him reorient himself. He saw lights play out in the dark sky, flashes and streaks coursed, running around like they were nobody's business. Locke's logical mind told him this was no time to enjoy the show. He forced himself to think about the current situation.

" _A space battle."_ The very thought set his mind on edge. He knew that he was in hot territory. He took a closer look at the flashes, _"No, those are AAGs firing."_ Turning on the suit's audio, he picked up a cacophony of noise. He thought that he heard shouting, but his mind was still under the effects of the chemical cocktail and he couldn't quite pinpoint the sound. He nearly tripped, forgetting that the armor around his arm had gone into partial lock to act as a makeshift brace. Another stab and a new chemical was injected into him. He was alert now, but now he was overwhelmed by all the noise. His suit's audio automatically scrubbed all unnecessary noise and focused on the voice which belonged to Tanaka.

With his face locked in a pained grimace, he made his way to Tanaka, who seemed to have been covering him the entire time he was knocked out. With his newfound alertness, he also noticed that his helmet's visor was cracked. Ignoring the alarm that displayed angrily for taking off the helmet, Locke placed it on the magnetic clamps behind his back.

"Glad to see you up and ready sir." Tanaka's sincere tone earned a nod from the ONI Spartan. Briefly, she fired at some incoming Promethean forces as Locke gathered his thoughts.

Deftly, he caught the thrown battle rifle. He quickly checked the ammo counter, scope, and grabbed the spare ammunition. His suit's compensators were thankfully still active, as they helped him aiming at a few Crawlers that had managed their way over to their position.

"What's the situation?" He asked as he continued firing at anything that came near them.

"We have been pinned down for little over an hour." Tanaka paused, reloading her weapon, "Governor Sloan has ordered a retreat to Meridian station. They are under attack and we can't lose the space elevator."

"Sit-rep on Buck and Vale?" Locke questioned.

A few Promethean forces evaporated under their combined fire. "They are moving towards the space elevator. Apogee station was lost, those armor sets being the main reason. It is also the thing that attacked us in the labs." There was a sour note in her tone that Locke noticed. It almost made him grin. Good, she was as sore about it as he was.

"Understood. We can discuss it once we are out of here. For now, let's focus on getting to the elevator. The fast response fleet shouldn't take much longer on getting here." Locke said.

Tanaka's visor shifted to Locke's visage. Her eyes showed her confusion at the bold declaration. "We have been cut from any out of system communication since the attack started, maybe even before that."

Locke smirked at that. One of the perks of being ONI. The perk, however, didn't make him immune to pain as it washed over him, turning the grin into a grimace. Another cocktail was injected and he could feel an intense itch. Medical nanites were mending his bones. Why they decided to do it now instead of when he was knocked out, he didn't know.

He breathed in before replying to Tanaka, "I was speaking with the director when we lost communication. If I know him as good as I think, then the fleet should be on their way."

An explosion punctuated his sentence. Multiple Soldiers, Crawlers, and even Knights were flung into the air in a brilliant show of lights and radiation. Both Spartans-IV heard the tell-tale sound of the rumbling engine of a Scorpion tank. Two to be precise. They were Meridian's tanks, judging from the yellow and grey color scheme.

"The cavalry has arrived!" A jovial character popped from the Scorpion. He was wearing a grin, which made sense when you had that much firepower at your fingertips.

Buck and Tanaka exited from behind cover and made their way to the tanks. A surge of Promethean forces bore upon them, intent on taking out the human-made machines. They overestimated their attack vector and were mowed down by the tanks in order, Watcher's shields doing nothing to counteract the devastating firepower of the tank. Couple with two Spartans and what was left of the local militia made it that much harder for the Prometheans, opting to retreat via micro-jumps instead.

For just a minute, everyone could catch their breaths. The tank's hatch opened again. "Spartans," One of the tank drivers greeted, "I'm sergeant Davis. Governor Sloan sends his regards."

Locke nodded, suppressing a reflexive flinch every time he breathed in. "Sergeant." He saluted.

Davis pressed a button, allowing the tank's speakers to broadcast his voice. "Alright people, we have to move to extraction point Foxtrot. It is currently under enemy control, but once we secure it, Phantoms will come in to pick us up. Stay sharp and use our tanks as cover."

All the militia around them agreed with a chorus of, "Sir, Yes sir!"

Once more, everyone was on the move. Not having a helmet on, Locke used his wrist-tac to help him navigate. He memorized the map, noting that it was relatively close. He opened a comm-channel to Davis, telling him, "Sergeant, I'm going on ahead and survey the extraction point. Over."

Locke shared a look with Tanaka, who understood. Getting an affirmative, they both sprinted off. Locke was just a tad slower, but still faster than most humans. He worked through the pain, but thankfully his armor was providing assistance with the movement. The sprint was uneventful until they reached their destination. Watchers were doing what their namesake meant, watching.

But they were Spartans, so they slipped by unnoticed into an abandoned police station. Immediately they saw the bodies of some officers that were still smoldering. "Seems like they didn't had time to arm themselves." Locke commented, Tanaka shaking her head in dismay.

They saw a locked door, but that didn't stop them. The onboard dumb AI was still pretty powerful and was able to unlock security lock. They could've just ripped off the hinges, but that would've made too much noise. Tanaka looked around a slight nod. "They were pretty well-armed despite being mere police."

Locke picked up a sniper rifle and some extra ammunition to go with his battle rifle. Tanka took more ammo for her assault rifle, along a Hydra grenade launcher and another sniper rifle. Graving some extra grenades along a sentry turret, if only to distract the enemy, both moved to the roof of the station.

Despite being three stories tall, the police station didn't offer a good vantage point of the extraction point. However, once bot Spartans made their way to the top of the roof, they did find a building that offered what they needed. Not wanting to alert the enemy, they waited until a pair of Watchers left the area before beginning their trek. Jumping from roof to roof, ferrying equipment to each other, they made it to the building without being seen.

Moving quickly to the edge, Locke set up the sniper rifle while Tanaka set up the sentry turret off to their flanks. Afterwards, she laid a little off to the side of Locke with her own sniper rifle.

Through the scope, both Spartans were able to see the varying Promethean forces. They had their own anti-air guns firing at a squadron of fighters that got too close. The forces themselves were in a square plaza surrounded by buildings. Heavy and standard Knights patrolled the streets while Soldiers loaded themselves up in Phaetons. Then there were the tanks. They had a similar appearance to the Phaetons, but were more bulbous at the top. The still had a roughly triangular shape, but with two turrets on the sides and a powerful looking canon at the top.

Using the night vision of her scope, Tanaka continued surveying before signaling to Locke. "There, by the AA-guns." She pinged a set of armor walking among the Promethean forces. "That's the thing that attacked us. The Warden Eternal, or so Vale says."

Locke's gaze became steely. He recognized it as the thing that had knocked him out.

He called the convoy waiting for their signal, "Sergeant Davis, we have eyes on the extraction point. It is heavily defended; do you know if we have orbital support?"

"Affirmative, though only orbit-land missile strikes. If you can get a targeting laser lined up, that would be much appreciated."

"Can do."Locke replied, "Sergeant, I want you to divide your forces in two. Strike through the east and west sides, Osiris will provide sniper support from the north."

He sent the data packet, marking where the enemy forced would be as well as priority targets, to Davis. "We've mark the targets. Once the missile strikes, start the attack."

"Understood Spartan. We'll be ready in five, over and out." Davis said.

As the comms shut off, the low rumbling of a storm could be heard in the distance. It was much need cover as the loud clapping of thunder would mask the noisy engines of the Scorpion tanks. Tanaka wasn't much for art, but at the very least, the Forerunners had good aesthetics. With the Guardian looming in the background as lightning illuminated the backdrop, it looked like some winged god watching the nature of war. It reminded her of some paintings back when she would go to museums with her family.

Locke had already pulled out a targeting laser, bringing the small green light to shine on the Forerunner AA-guns. Locke almost found it comical how the laser was going right between the Warden's legs without him noticing. It wasn't until the clouds briefly parted, followed by a sonic boom that the Warden looked up, as did the rest of the forces. He growled as he realized the looming threat too late.

Buildings cracked, windows shattered and dust plumed upwards. The few buildings that weathered out the onslaught were knocked down by the ones that didn't. Very few buildings remained standing, but that mattered little. As soon as the destruction lessened, Locke and Tanaka immediately set upon the stragglers. Even though Locke didn't have his helmet, he could see the thank that was rolling up belonged to Sergeant Davis. A few marines were on treads, providing covering fire. A standard Knight micro-jumped in, but was immediately dispatched by withering fire from the marines and the gunner in the tank.

The second Scorpion tank flanked the forces in the west, letting loose its cannon on its Forerunner counterpart. The effects were marginal, as, while it did leave a hole, it didn't put it out of commission. It took its turn to fire as a massive flame of hard-light escaped its nozzle. A couple of marines tried to run from the tank, but didn't quite make it and were engulfed by brilliant orange lights. The tank itself took the brunt of the hit, leaving it on bad shape. The left treads were completely disintegrated as its armor disappeared in flakes of orange hard-light dust. Despite this, the cannon remained unharmed. A surviving marine quickly hopped into the gunner's spot, grimacing at having to sit next to a dead body. He fired the turret at the Forerunner tank, a shield briefly popping.

The shield was strong, and while the Forerunner tank wouldn't take damage, it seemed that it couldn't fire either. The Scorpion fired at the shield as well, doing nothing to it. A ballsy marine though, picked up a SPNKR missile launcher from the only remaining compartment on the side of the tank. The marine poured his heart into the sprint, taking a chance. He felt a sharp wind fly past him, noticing only now that a Soldier had nearly taken his head off. The covering fire from the Spartans was enough to keep him going. The rain was slick, but it felt good in the heat of battle. He made it to the side of the Forerunner tank, only now noticing the turrets on the side. He saw them turn towards him and he knew that he was dead.

Or so he thought. Self-guiding grenades from the Hydra grenade launcher managed to swerve around the shield and hit the left turret of the Forerunner tank. Said tank was now stuck between getting hammered by a rocket launcher or by the Scorpion. The moment of indecisiveness let the marine become a hero as he fired off both chambers. The first rocket briefly knocked the tank upwards, but the second one managed to hit the underbelly, completely crippling it. The shield flickered and went offline, which gave the Scorpion the opportunity it needed to finish it off.

Tanaka had moved down, closer towards the fight with her assault rifle out. She was helping Davis' tank and the surviving marines clear away the Knights that were congregating. That's when they saw the remaining Forerunner tank begin to transform. Parts seemed to just randomly come from slip-space as it began to look more like the AAG they had just taken out, though much smaller.

Davis' tank had fired off a round as it had transformed, sheering off some armor and exposing the core. But before he could fire off another round, the Forerunner tank had finished transforming. The round it fired was definitely brighter, as it nearly blinded the marines. However, blindness was the least of their worries as the round hit the Scorpion. The turret completely shattered in shards of hard-light, which actually seemed to trickle down into the rest of the tank. Locke didn't know that hard-light could dissolve things, but that's what it appeared to be doing to the tank. Thankfully, the gunner and the driver had managed to escape before the whole Scorpion was engulfed.

Turning its canon to fire at the group of soldiers, the tank was unprepared by the volley of propelled grenades hitting its exposed core. The tank went off line long enough for the crippled scorpion to finish it. Tanaka put the HYDRA grenade launcher away and retook her assault rifle, immediately destroying a nearby Watcher. With the heavy rain and wind serving as cover to the movements and sounds of the alliance soldiers, the Promethean forces were decimated within minutes by the remaining Scorpion and the covering sniper fire. The Promethean's hard-light armor hindering them by making their location known in the dark.

Once the Prometheans were neutralized, both Spartans made their way to the plaza, the surviving soldiers taking a rest while Sergeant Davis approached said Spartans.

"Evac will be here in three." Davis said while looking around. The plaza was destroyed, the crater adorning the center, were the missile had hit, was sure to make a landmark for the foreseeable future.

"How many did we lose?" Locke asked, looking at the resting soldiers.

"Tum died when that tank hit us." Davis said before looking at the burning scorpion, "Max and Yasaz were on the scorpion when it was destroyed."

Before Locke could say anything in response, two blinding lights illuminated the plaza. Two phantoms were descending on their position, a pair of Falcons standing by to cover the dropships. Not wasting any time, Davis got back towards the crippled tank after nodding at the Spartans, one of the Phantoms attaching the tank to its underbelly soon after. The Spartans and marines boarded the second Phantom. Locke immediately got the first aid-kit from one of the compartments, finally properly treating his injuries after hours of combat.

Turning the lights off, the Phantoms, along the Falcons, left the area, the occasional lightning strike making their presence known on the night skies of Meridian. On the background, the Guardian sent another energy wave, some of the remaining buildings and bridges succumbing to the kinetic energy. The dropships and the Falcons suffered some turbulence and loss of power momentarily before recovering, their speeds slightly slower to stabilize themselves.

The side doors of the Phantom opened, giving the passengers a good view of Meridian station and the space elevator. Multiple defensive emplacements were set up, Wolverines and Cobras stationed at the first and secondary defensive positions. Wraiths were stationed between the two defensive lines, their mortars laying waste to the Promethean forces attacking, while AA-Wraiths helped Wolverines to keep the skies clear of enemy fighters. Looking to the sky, Locke spotted what appeared to be a Forerunner spaceship, its cannons constantly firing at the energy shield provided by a Spire tower. Said shield holding strongly against the onslaught.

A hole in the shield materialized, letting the dropship enter before closing behind them. A minute or so later, the dropships landed, the Scorpion being deployed along the secondary defensive line were maintenance crew repaired the damage done to it. Exiting the dropship, Locke and Tanaka spotted Buck and Vale waiting for them.

"Glad to see you two alive and kicking." Buck said, his tone a relieved one. Tanaka ignored him, preferring to engage Vale in conversation.

"I can say the same for you two." Locke responded, letting a rare smile grace his face before putting a serious expression. "What's our status?" He asked, hearing Vale and Tanaka behind them speaking about setting up sniper positions on the primary defensive line.

"We had to move back our defensive line when that frigate started doing orbital strikes on us." Buck said.

"That's a frigate?" Locke asked surprised, pointing at the four-kilometer ship in the sky.

"According to Commander Pressley's intel," Buck said incredulously as well, "I sure as hell don't want to see their destroyers." He chuckled dryly, "Anyways, once that thing started its bombardment, our forces pulled within the Spire's shield, which have held the onslaught for the better part of an hour by now." He paused momentarily, typing a pass code before entering the command center "The bad news: We had to reroute the generators powering the space elevator to the Spire. So any extra supplies coming in from up there are a no-go."

"What about the FRF? Have they arrived yet?" Locke asked, looking at the tactical map of Meridian station.

Sloan popped up next to the holographic map, his appearance just as blurry as Locke remembered seeing it last.

"Meridian's radio-telescope array detected the fleet entering the system an hour ago." Sloan said monotonously before frowning. "We haven't heard from them since."

"What about our defensive lines?" Tanka said after analyzing the holographic map.

"They are holding surprisingly well. Though, unless the FRF takes that ship out of the sky, the shield will fall within half an hour." Sloan said seriously.

" _In the end, it all comes down to how fast the FRF takes the Forerunner fleet out."_ Locke thought. Shaking those thoughts out of his head, Locke moved to the infirmary to tend to his more serious injuries, while Vale and Buck went to the primary defensive line to help. Tanaka stayed in the control room, using her tactical mind to coordinate the troops defending the station.

 **January 9, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar;** **Slip-Space, FRF Anthea.**

Admiral Karasu Tokisaki was an old man of Japanese descent, with most of his family having served in one branch of the military since the 22nd century. He stood in front of the observation window in the bridge, the slip-space tunnel still as magnificent as the first time that he saw it many decades ago, since before the Human-Covenant war. His ship, the flagship of the fleet, the UNSC-Infinity Class ship _Acrab_ had received a communique by the director of ONI, ordering the fleet to go to the Hestia system to neutralize a possible hostile force. That was a few hours ago.

" _Something isn't right."_ Karasu thought, the slip-space tunnel becoming more purple, indicating that they were about to arrive at their destination. _"Why send an entire fleet on a what If situation?"_ His eyes narrowed, now that he had the time to properly analyze the situation, the answers became evident. _"ONI is hiding something of importance that has probably gone out of control. Thus, explaining this deployment."_

"Sir," The ship's AI, Lestat, said; taking Karasu out of his thoughts. "We are about to enter the Hestia system. ETA: One minute."

"Thank you Lestat. Make sure that the fleet is combat ready." Karasu said, nodding at the 18th century looking AI.

"Aye sir." Lestat answered, bowing while doing so before disappearing to carry out the order.

Lestat was an AI that took on the appearance of the fictional character Lestat the vampire. Dressed in an 18th century formal suit and carrying a glass full of, what Lestat had said, blood. All in all, the AI looked every part the vampire. _"At least it has good taste in literature."_ Karasu thought.

Multiple portals opened in the Hestia system, the FRF coming out of them. The fleet consisted of one Infinity-class ship, four battlecruisers, six heavy destroyers, and eight Strident heavy frigates. The return to real space put Karasu in alert, his family's warrior instincts immediately telling him that something was off. _"No immediate communication from Meridian?"_ he thought as the holographic display of the system surrounded him. He immediately noticed the situation that Hestia was under even before his officers could inform him. He paled considerably before hardening his expression.

"Contact _Zenith_ station. I want all the available data of what happened here now." He ordered, his mind already formulating an attacking plan on the five unknown ships.

The hologram showed four of the five unknowns move towards his fleet, a single four-kilometer vessel staying in orbit. _"Orbital bombardment perhaps? Or is it psychological warfare?"_ He mused before dismissing the ship for the moment. He had more pressing matters, one of the seven-kilometer ships had opened a slip-space portal before disappearing, the other three, two seven-kilometers ships and one twelve-kilometer ship kept their course towards them.

A window appeared in front of him, the report that he had requested from _Zenith_. He read through it as fast as his old eyes let him, tactics and other plans formulating in his strategic mind to eliminate the enemy as swiftly as possible. As soon as he finished, Lestat appeared next to him, the holographic glass empty, signaling that something had the AI worried.

"Sir, _Zenith_ is under attack." It said before continuing, "Enemy hostile AI is currently trying to break through the fleet's firewalls. I am afraid that I won't be able to successfully counter attack it without focusing on it a 100 percent."

"Understood, change the ship's controls to manual. And Lestat." The AI looked at him after sending the communique to the crew. "Take any other AI on the fleet to help you. I want you to cripple and capture that AI, destroy it if necessary."

Lestat's holographic eyes shinned more brightly as more code traveled in them. Showing its fangs, the AI disappeared from the bridge anxious for the hunt to come. Karasu shivered involuntarily before turning to his communications officer.

"Send in the battlecruisers _Righteous Vengeance_ and _Somnus_ to assist _Zenith_. I want that ODP to target the twelve-kilometer Forerunner ship." Karasu then looked at the coming ships, he still had three minutes to ready the fleet. "Send in four of our heavy destroyers and the battlecruiser _Eternal Penitence_ to these coordinates."

"Sir?" The officer said confused, "That's a planetary slip-space entry. If the calculations are off, then the ships will crash into the mountain chain."

"Then make sure that they are not." Karasu said harshly.

He had nothing against the officer, but he needed to show him early on that there was no victory without taking some risks. _"Hopefully after this engagement the kid will learn that not everything is on the books."_ He thought. Soon after, the five aforementioned ships exited just above the mountain chain between Apogee and Meridian stations. There, they would avoid accidental friendly fire while the Forerunner ship's fire will, at worst, hit uninhabited parts of Meridian.

An alarm sounded, indicating him that they were a minute away from being in range to fire their weapons. He signaled for the eight frigates to pull behind the rest of the fleet. With the _Acrab_ and the single battlecruiser at the front of the formation, they were the first to fire at one of the seven-kilometer ships. A barrage of MAC canons, archers and plasma torpedoes impacted the ship's shields, weakening them. The three Forerunner ships returned fire, particle canons and ionized particle weaponry hit the two ships, their shields flashing brightly against the onslaught.

The _Acrab_ shook forcefully, a status screen appearing next to Karasu. The Ship's shields were down to forty percent. _"Another assault like that and our shields are history_." He thought. To the side, on another section of the hologram, he noted that the battlecruisers _Righteous Vengeance_ and _Somnus_ had already destroyed the ship attacking _Zenith_. He smirked as an idea came to him.

The _Acrab_ and its escort battlecruiser opened fire on the same ship as before, this time, managing to bring its shields down. Not wasting any time, the two destroyers fired their batteries of MACs and plasma torpedoes, their fire coordinated by the ships VIs so that the salvos hit the exact same spot. Soon after, eight slip-space portals opened next to the shield-less ship, the frigates coming out of them, their MACs and missiles hitting the weakened frontal armor, destroying the ship within seconds. One of the frigates got hit by the flagship's particle weaponry, its shields popping almost immediately. Explosions along the hull of the frigate were seen, but its design permitted it to barely survive the assault. Before the ship could finish off the frigate, the heavy frigates opened slip-space portals and returned to their original position behind the FRF.

At the same time, one shot from _Zenith_ hit the second seven-kilometer ship, its shields flashing brightly just as two portals opened next to it. The _Righteous Vengeance_ and _Somnus_ came out of the portals, their MACs, plasma torpedoes and pulse lasers bombarding the ship. The shields gave in to the onslaught within seconds, letting the _Acrab_ and the other battlecruiser finish the ship off with their energy projectors. The Forerunner ship spotted many explosions within its hull, and then it went silent, its internal systems going offline.

While the destruction of the two ships was a major advantage to the Alliance forces, it had come at a cost. The two destroyers that stayed with the FRF had been destroyed by the flagship, and the _Acrab_ 's shields had finally been destroyed.

"It is done." Lestat said as he appeared next to Karasu, his hologram blinking in and out of existence and his holographic suit damaged.

"You all right?" Karasu asked as the battlecruisers and his ships deployed anti-slip-space probes.

"Nothing that a visit to a technician can't repair. Unfortunately, I was unable to capture the AI, it terminated itself once we had crippled it enough." Lestat said with what could be detected as frustration.

"Understood," Karasu said, "coordinate the _Acrab_ 's and our battlecruiser fire for a stand-board assault on the hostile ship. Also, send our frigates to patrol the system for any more enemy ships."

What followed was a complete assault on the Forerunner flagship by the four Alliance ships. The ODP firing its MAC at the ship as well, its coordination of fire being perfect to not hit any allied ship, the result of decades of naval exercises. The Forerunner ship being unable to retreat, had fired every single weapon of its arsenal, leaving the four ships without shields and forcing them to either close or eject decks to not compromise their hulls any further. Though the defensive onslaught was for nothing as one more shot from the ODP crippled its weapons systems.

Taking the chance, Karasu concentrated the ships' fire on the wounded ship, destroying it within seconds of the onslaught. Sighting in relief that the battle was over with relatively low losses, he contacted the ships within Meridian.

"Shipmaster 'Rodomai." Karasu said, "What's your status?"

"We destroyed the enemy ship without taking any casualties. We are currently assisting our ground forces to eliminate the remains of the Promethean forces." 'Rodomai said before pausing slightly, "There's one more thing that you should be aware of Admiral." He said before sending Karasu a live feed.

The holo-screen that appeared next to the shipmaster showed an enormous structure floating above the remains of Apogee station, if it could still be called that. Lestat appeared next to him, his appearance slightly better than before.

"Sir, I'm detecting a slip-space signature. It's coming from Apogee station." Lestat said slightly alarmed, already informing the allied ships' VIs and AI on the planet to start to pull them out of the planet.

Karasu looked at 'Rodomai, but the shipmaster had already gotten the unspoken message. The ships within the planet started to pull out just as a massive slip-space portal appeared behind the structure. Its avian wings moved in front of the main body before disappearing through the portal. As soon as the portal disappeared, a massive shockwave of energy made itself apparent, destroying everything in its path. One of the destroyers got hit by the shockwave, its thrusters losing power as its shields flashed brightly.

The destroyer started to lose power as it descended towards Jorta station. With no power, the ship's captain could do nothing but inform the crew to brace themselves for the impact. The remaining dispersed forces around Jorta looked to the skies, seeing the destroyer falling down from the sky. Seconds later, the ship crash landed on the far side of Jorta station, a massive screen of sand and dust covering the ship.

With the energy shockwave finally dispersing harmlessly, Pelicans, Phantoms, and Spirits made their way to the crashed ship to assist. The surviving forces within Jorta also made their way to the landing site, while eliminating any Promethean remnants on their way.

"Send the video file to my personal terminal." He said angrily, "Start search and rescue operations. As of now, all Promethean forces in Meridian are under scorched earth policy, leave none of those things alive." He then looked at Lestat, "I'll be in my quarters if you need to contact me. Captain Luyul, you have the bridge."

Karasu moved quickly to his personal quarters, returning the salutes of the crewmates that he passed by. Once in his quarters, he went straight for his personal terminal, contacting the man that had sent him to the system. The only reason that the director of ONI answered without any delays to him was because he had ordered Karasu to contact him as soon as the situation in the Hestia system was dealt with.

A screen appeared, with a man sitting behind a desk, the lack of light making it impossible to identify any features besides the shape of a human. Hell, the only reason that Karasu knew that it was a man was for the tone of voice and even then, he was still doubtful that the person was male.

"Admiral Tokisaki." The director stated, awaiting his report.

"The, now identified, Forerunner threat in the Hestia system has been neutralized. Meridian's defense force has been decimated. _Zenith_ station and Beta patrol are all that is left sir." Karasu said, controlling his anger in front of his superior.

"I see." He responded, "In that case, Anthea is to stay on the system until another defense group is commissioned to the system. Also, I looked at the report that you sent me Admiral. I'll send a ship to recover the remains of the Forerunner ship that is currently in Meridian. Until then, that zone is completely off limits to any personal not securing the area."

"Understood sir." Karasu said, "Just a question. What was this thing?" He said as he showed the recording of the structure leaving the planet.

The director looked at the recording, shifting his hands to rest his chin. "That is classified information Admiral, I recommend you to inform the fleet and any of Meridian's defense force that mentioning this will be charged with treason." Karasu stiffened at the tone of the director. This one noted the reaction of the admiral before continuing. "Though, I'm afraid that that won't be the case anymore soon. Until then, keep this information a secret. Admiral."

The connection was cut, letting Karasu sight in relief. He then frowned, thinking on what the director had said, he knew that the director was serious with the threat, something that he will have to make clear to every military personnel in the system. He sighted, exiting his quarters and returning to the bridge.

 **XXXXX**

On an unknown system, close to the galactic core, Jason Patterson, ONI's leader, sighted in tiredness. He had looked over the report of the scientists, Osiris and the Admiral; concluding that the situation with the Guardians will no longer be a tight guarded secret. Not if he wanted to prevent another Meridian that is. _"I'll have to discuss this with Thel and Terrance."_ He thought, frowning, _"if my theories with these disasters are correct, then we will need to inform all the Captains and above ranking officers of this threat."_

A yellow holographic terminal appeared in his desk, he immediately identified it as a CERBERUS report. He smiled at the good news of their progress in the reaper front, it seemed that the battle of the Citadel had produced extremely useful data.

He turned off the terminals and locked the system. Exiting his office, he made his way to the docking bay of the station, a prowler already waiting for him. The prowler activated its thrusters as soon as Patterson entered the ship, the hangar sealing itself as water started to pass through the energy shield. The prowler exited the hangar, this one hardening the shield to not let any more water enter while draining the water that was on the hangar. The prowler accelerated, exiting the ocean to a stormy sky, its camouflage activating just as it exited the water.

Jason looked at the stormy planet through the observation window, the single planet of the system being hidden by hundreds of stealth satellites creating a stealth screen around the planet. Anyone who entered the system would only see the star orbited by an asteroid belt, which had already been mined from any useful minerals, in other words, a totally useless system far away from civilization.

After entering slip-space, Jason made his way to the bar, it was a long way to Arcturus, and he needed a drink for the incoming meeting.

 **Forerunner Calendar; Nomos System, Genesis.**

The Warden Eternal looked at the holographic representation of Singapore, his features expressing his anger to the lesser AI.

"You lied to us, the ones that spared you and even upgraded you." The Warden said, "Not only did you fail to inform us of the full capabilities of Meridian's defenses, but you also neglected to mention that another Alliance fleet was close by."

Singapore's holographic representation shifted, his expression mirroring the Warden's anger at the accusations thrown his way. "I told you, I am a research AI. And besides, even if I was designed for military purposes, the location of every single fleet of the Alliance is classified, only the three high ranking officers of the Alliance know this information, and even then, that's only during a time of war."

The Warden was about to retort but he was silenced as an imposing figure clad in Forerunner armor entered the room. The figure wore pitch black armor with a single symbol on its right arm: the symbol of the Forerunner ecumene.

"I see no reason to be mad at Singapore's performance. After all, he clearly warned you of his lack of knowledge in the matter at hand." The figure said, "The only reason that the Guardian managed to get here safely was because of surprise being on your side on this operation Warden, something that we no longer have. You clearly underestimated these, what did you called them? Ah, primitive animals."

"It will not happen again General." The Warden said.

"I hope so, because of you, we lost thirteen ships, a resource that we don't have in abundance if you remember." The figure said before turning to Singapore, "What's your current status?"

"The _Infinity_ is taking reparations in Palamok, and I'm under constant surveillance from the scientists and Hades, the ship's AI. If it weren't for the upgrades, I wouldn't be able to contact you without being detected, though I'm afraid that my time is running out." Singapore answered, his image changing to a floating orange orb.

"Understood, keep a low profile and don't rise any suspicions. I'll contact you when I need your services again."

Singapore didn't bother to answer, the dismissal clear as water. The figure turned to look at the Warden, who was still kneeling next to him. "Have you found our troublesome monitor yet?"

"Negative, she has always been a sneaky one. Though the moment that she tries to reconnect to the mainframe, or send a message, I'll have my Prometheans in her location." The Warden said.

The figure nodded before exiting the room. He needed to oversee his plan to retrieve the next Guardian. The next one being deep within Citadel space.

 **January 12, Age of Resurrection, Loyalist Covenant Calendar, Janjur Qom System, CSO-Class Supercarrier** ** _Vengeance Coming_** **, Bridge.**

Jul M'Dama looked at the holographic representation of the former San'Shyuum home system, with their homeworld having being destroyed millennia ago, a few stations remained housing what was left of the species. He had come here to gain their support, using the death of the Prophet of Vengeance to his benefit for the coup d'etat. He had successfully painted Vengeance as a traitor and a heretic, before obtaining the San'Shyuum full support, placing him as the new leader of the Loyalist Covenant.

All that was left was to eliminate the remaining supporters of Vengeance, a task that the San'Shyuum high council had supported. If they are still loyal to Vengeance after what he did, then they deserve no mercy. Or so they had said. Even with their support, M'Dama was no fool, he knew that the incoming battle would be difficult at best, but he thrusted his forces to eliminate all resistance in Kamchatka.

"Supreme Commander, the fleets are ready for departure." A Sangheili officer said, bowing while doing so.

"Then set course to the Caspar System." He said happily, after all, his plan to take over the Loyalist Covenant was about to come to a complete success. It had taken him a few decades of planning and carefully executed tasks, but all had been worth it for this moment. "It's time to finish off those heretics for good." He said maliciously just as dozens of portals opened, the fleets disappearing within them.

 **A/N: IMPORTANT! As many of you may have already noticed, this story is going to be under Hiatus until I have 3 or so chapters done. That way I can just post them every three or so weeks while not being in a hurry to write, and my editor can have enough time to edit them.**

 **I am sure many of you are curious as to why it took me around 7 months to post this chapter, the reason is, many problems for me and my editor. I won't go into details but suffice to say that we had some technical problems, my computer was useless for about a month, along with multiple school projects on my end, and then some on my editor's end, we barely had time to work on the story.**

 **Now, you may notice that near the end of the chapter, the writing style changed a bit, the reason is that it's because this chapter wasn't completely edited, but it was edited enough to be posting material. In the future, once my editor sends me the full edits, I will update this chapter, though the changes will be minimum, a word changed, a sentence fixed/changed, stuff like that.**

 **Now, I'm thinking of getting a second editor, as the one that I am currently working with seem to be extremely busy. I need someone that isn't afraid to discuss ideas for the story or change an entire paragraph to make the story flow better, or to add a paragraph to a chapter if he/she thinks will fit good with it. As long as they inform me of the change that is. If you are interested, then PM me and I'll answer as soon as I'm able to.**

 **Thank You!**


	4. Disappearance

**The Next Great Journey: Awakening**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own any Halo or Mass Effect products; they belong to their respective owners.**

 **Beta Reader:** **l3loodKnight**

Chapter 4: Disappearance

 **January 14, 2173, Citadel Council Calendar; Eagle Nebula, Relay Network, In Route to Wing System.**

The Wing system, a small planetary system that is on the frontier with the Terminus sector of the galaxy, but still within the Attican Traverse. The system itself has a secondary relay along three planets orbiting a yellow star, with the second planet being the only one able to sustain life, a dextro-amino-acid life at that. Being home to Asari and Turians, the planet's economy depended on its exportation of dextro-based food, as well as, the importation of levo-based food. Even so, the activity on the system was minimal due to pirate activities around the nebula.

Within the relay network, a small, custom made, Turian transport made its way towards the system. Being as fast as a Turian frigate and at eighty-meters in length, the ship still carried quite the firepower, compared to other ships of its size. Retrofitted with four GARDIAN lasers on both of its sides, kinetic barriers, and the ability to hide its heat signatures, as long as its weapons were offline, the ship was perfect for a SPECTRE agent. The ship had costed a fortune, but then again, being a SPECTRE had its benefits.

Looking at the observation window, Saren finished contemplating his ship, _The Predator's Claw_ , opting instead to look at the blue and white lines that represented stars and nebulas in space. It had been just a few days ago when the ship had been finished, just in time for the mission that Councilor Sparatus had assigned him and his teammates.

Speaking of his teammates, Reena T'Nol and Thane Krios were on the bridge, ready to contact the battlegroup protecting the system. It had been a while since Saren had last seen them, the mission on Magna colony being the last time in fact. After seeing the devastating state in which the colony was left, Reena had taken a small vacation on Thessia, needing some time for herself. Saren clenched his claws in anger at remembering that mission, a purple-blue aura surrounding his body momentarily before he calmed himself down. His steps a bit harder, he made his way to the bridge.

Returning to his original line of thought, Saren remembered what Thane had told him. The Drell had went to the Terminus systems to track down an ardat-yakshi. _"She must have been quite the criminal to send Thane of all SPECTRES after her."_ He thought. While ardat-yakshi were rare, every century or two, one or two of them succumbed to their instincts, forcing a Justicar or an SPECTRE to put down the threat.

He didn't know all the details, but apparently, Thane had worked with a Justicar that was after the same target. Something about being personal for the Justicar in question. All in all, none of them were present during the battle of the Citadel.

The hiss of a door opening brought him back to the present, for he had arrived at the bridge. The bridge was small, with four seats, multiple screens on the walls and a small holographic table on the center of the room. He circumnavigated around the table, noting that Reena was on the copilot seat while Thane was looking at the sensors' screens. Taking his position in the pilot seat, removing the autopilot function while doing so, he immediately noticed that they would enter the system within a few minutes.

"Took you long enough to get here Saren," Reena said with a small smirk. "What took you so long?"

He pressed some commands on his terminal before looking at the inquiring Asari, "Nothing important. I just lost track of time on the observation room."

Before Reena could respond, the familiar shake of the ship exiting FTL returned her attention to her console. She immediately noted that something was wrong.

"No ship or communication signals detected on the system. Something's wrong here." Thane said, inadvertently voicing Reena's thoughts.

"Make a deep scan, focus primarily on Imorha." Saren said calmly while guiding the ship towards the mentioned planet.

" _Seems like Sparatus' fears have been confirmed."_ Saren thought, _"No. There's not even debris on the system. It is possible that the battlegroup went after the attackers or had to leave the system temporarily because of the solar storms. Not within standard protocol but we are in the Traverse."_ With that in mind, he turned to Reena.

"Are there any records of solar storms happening recently on the system?" Saren asked.

"No," Reena answered almost immediately, the same thought having passed through her head. "The last one happened weeks ago, and Imorha's last report was after that."

"Scan results are ready." Thane said, taking a holographic sphere and throwing it on the holo-table.

The sphere expanded upon landing, revealing the system and all relevant information. Red circles appeared around areas of interest and/or anomalies detected. Reena and Saren moved to the holographic table to see the results, and hear Thane's findings. Meanwhile, the ship was set on autopilot towards Imorha.

"The scans have detected multiple areas with high concentrations of eezo," Thane said while pointing at the red circles, "As for this one," he said while pointing at another red circle on the edge of the system, "is the fuel station. Normally, the fuel stations are automated, but this one had a scheduled maintenance visit. The dropship is still docked on one of the access points." Thane made a momentary pause, inadvertently adding suspense to his report, "That's not all, I detected no life signals on board."

Saren and Reena looked at each other, understanding of what Thane said and didn't said coming to them. Saren activated his omni-tool, ordering the ship's VI to prepare the shuttle. Motioning for Thane to continue, he saw the Drell change the hologram to represent Imorha.

"Similar to the station, I detected no life signs on any city or artificial settlement within the colony. It is possible that any survivors are on the wild areas of the colony, but there is no way for us to distinguish them from the local fauna. Not to say that there is no trace of the battlegroup that is supposed to be here."

Saren frowned, not liking how things where looking. Thinking quickly over a course of action, Saren looked at Thane, a serious expression on his face.

"Thane, take the shuttle and investigate the fuel station. See if you can find anything on their systems." Saren said while moving out of the room, the other two SPECTRES following behind. "Reena, you are with me."

None of them said anything after that, not when they may have another Magna incident on their hands. The elevator doors hissed open, letting the three SPECTRES move to the armory section on the hangar. Not wanting to be unprepared, Saren had stocked the armory with every weapon, mod and attachment that he could get his claws on, from common guns, to experimental ones.

Saren went straight for his trusted Phaeston rifle equipping it with a stabilizer mod, a 4x scope and incendiary rounds. He also picked up a Scorpion pistol, courtesy of his contacts within STG. Reena went for a Disciple shotgun with an extended barrel for extra damage, as a secondary, she took the recently released Geth plasma SMG with disruptor ammunition. Thane took up a Phalanx pistol, a recently released model by the Systems Alliance. The pistol worked exactly the same as any other Citadel pistol, but it had the cooling system of the Alliance's plasma weaponry, allowing for more shots per thermal clip. As a secondary, he took up an M-11 suppressor, another Alliance model that had made its way to the galactic market. In contrast with the Phalanx, the M-11 used standard chemical propelled bullets, but its quick firing rate, devastating effects on its target and the quietness in which it operated made it one of his favorites.

Fully loaded, Thane boarded the already awaiting shuttle, the door closing behind him. Seconds later, the shuttle departed the hangar, leaving Saren and Reena on _The Predator's Claw_ to enter the planet's atmosphere. With the ship's computer managing the flight of the ship, the entry to atmosphere was as smooth as it could be. Before long, the ship landed on the capital's spaceport, thought it unsettled Saren even more that there had been no attempts to communicate with them.

"So, what's the plan Saren?" Reena asked as they exited the ship through the docking tube, her weapons holstered.

"We split. I'll look on the spaceport's computers, maybe there's a clue as to what happened here." Saren said as both got into an elevator. "See if you can connect to the city's VI, maybe we can find some answers in there as well."

"Alright. And Saren," Reena said, making Saren look her way, "we'll find what happened here. It won't be another Magna incident." She finished with a small, almost unsure, smile.

Saren nodded, his posture relaxing a bit before exiting the elevator. _"I'm not sure if that was more for my sake than hers."_ Saren thought to himself. As soon as the elevator's door closed, Reena looked at the city's map on her omni-tool immediately spotting one of the city's security buildings. The security building was a few blocks away from the spaceport, making her job all the much easier.

Minutes later, the elevator opened its doors once again, she activated her active camouflage before surveilling the room. With no apparent hostiles on the vicinity, she made her way to the security building. The lack of noise, or living beings for that matter, did not deter her from her objective, though it gave her a bad feeling about all this. It was one thing to see the results of the ship's sensors of the colony, but another to see the city so desolated, and with no apparent signs of struggle.

The sky darkened a bit and a few early lightning strikes could be seen on the distance, fog had started to settle in on the city's streets. It was as if the planet itself was warning the SPECTRE of the nature of the events that took place a mere days ago.

Abandoned sky cars littered through the street, some of them crashed, others with just the windows broken. Stepping over the glass on the streets, Reena looked up, noticing the skyscraper that was next to her. She could see a burning sky-car crashed into said building, though the rain had already started to put the flames out. The sudden sound of footsteps made her turn towards the noise's source, her shotgun at the ready. Seconds after, a Varren like creature passed through the street, completely disregarding her presence.

Sighing to herself, she continued on her way to the security building. The sound of silence accompanying her, as not even birds could be heard on the desolated city. It wasn't long before she entered the security building, the sound of her footsteps echoing putting her a bit on edge. _"Geez, this looks more and more like a horror movie. Next thing I know, I'll get my head cut off by a maniac with an axe."_ She thought in hopes of distracting herself of the feeling of dread that was accumulating within.

After a few turns in the maze that was the building, Reena managed to reach the main command center room. Taking out a hacking device, she hooked it up to the main computer. Watching the progress bar on her omni-tool, she looked around, trying to find something to distract herself as the download continued. The sound of metal crashing on the floor, followed by the sound of footsteps called her attention to the hallway outside. She left the room to look at the source of the disturbance, barely catching sight of a small figure turning around the corner.

She cursed before going after the shadowy figure. Using her biotics, she increased her speed, rapidly gaining on the figure. The sudden shock at realizing what it was that she was pursuing made her crash into a wall as said figure entered the side room at the end of the corridor.

"Fuck! That hurt." Reena said as she massaged her head. Wasting nothing more than a few simple seconds, she entered calmly into the room, making sure to let the small figure within see her as nothing dangerous.

She spotted the now identified Turian child hiding behind the office table in the room. Said child could not be older than seven years old. Reena stayed a reasonable distance away, making sure to appear as non-threatening as possible, spotting a small smile, she called out to the child.

"Hey there. My name's Reena, what's yours?" She said at the obviously frightened kid. Though she did not show it, Reena was glad to have found someone in the city, though that turned to anger as she realized that the kid had been left alone in the entire city. Outside, she kept her friendly face in place as she sorted through her emotions.

The kid stepped shyly out from her hiding place, closing in on Reena as she saw, nor felt, any danger in place. "Anlea." She said timidly. "Have you seen my mama and papa?" She asked in what Reena detected as the beginning signs of desperation shaded with hope.

It was then that she noted how badly the little girl looked. She looked ill, as well as dehydrated, though not to the point where it would be alarming, it still looked as if the kid would pass out at any moment.

Reena swallowed, not liking what she was about to tell her, but she knew that she had to. "I'm…" She faltered a bit before continuing, "I'm afraid not Anlea. I…" Before she could continue, Reena saw Anlea starting to tear up as her hopes were dashed away with those simple words.

Without knowing why, she realized that she had the kid under her embrace, trying to calm the crying girl down. It took a while, but Reena managed to calm Anlea enough for her to ask some questions.

"Anlea, do you know what happened here?" Reena said, internally kicking herself for having to ask this of a kid. The fact that she had no choice in the matter not serving to calm her guilt down.

Anlea shook her head, indicating that she did not know before talking, "Papa said that he was going to scare the monsters away." She said between hiccups "Papa told mama and me to come here. Then mama locked me in one of the rooms and told me to hide. I..I don't remember anything after that." The girl said, starting to cry again as she finished her story.

Reena embraced her once again, managing to calm her down and reassuring her that everything would be alright. In the end, Anlea had fallen asleep on Reena's arms, her body too tired to continue to keep her awake. Standing up, Reena carried the girl on her way back to the control room. Picking up the hacking device, she was about to make her way back to the spaceport when Thane called.

 **January 15, 2173, Citadel Council Calendar; Eagle Nebula, Wing System, Fuel Station.**

The docking doors opened with a loud hiss, the station's lights turning on only to malfunction, with some of the lights breaking entirely as sparks flew from them. Taking out his Phalanx and turning his helmet's lantern on, Thane checked his omni-tool, confirming what he already suspected. There was no breathable air on the station. He set a nav-point on his omni-tool towards the control center before making his way through the dark corridors of the station.

The station was quiet; with no ship to refuel, the station's VIs had most of the machinery turned off. He passed a few rooms, some with spare parts, and others with valves and monitors checking the condition of the fuel pipes. It wasn't long before he arrived at the control center of the station, the bright lights of the monitors illuminating that part of the corridor through the open door of the room. As he approached his destination, he saw a shadow on the floor move, going from one side of the control room, to the other.

He immediately turned his lights off and prepared his pistol, approaching the door carefully and silently, like the assassin that he had been before becoming an SPECTRE. He approached carefully to the open door, putting his back against the wall and relaxing his heart rate. Turning quickly to enter the room, Thane aimed his pistol around the room, surveilling it for any threats. He found none. In fact, the room was deserted, with not a single sign of life in it.

He frowned. His eyes searched the room for any form of exit besides the front door. Finding none, he put his pistol down, though still ready to shoot at a moment's notice. His instincts put him slightly on edge, there was something off on the station, something that his subconscious was trying to warn him of.

After closing the door and locking it from the inside, he moved to the main console. Activating the life support systems of the station, he took his helmet off as soon as the computer told him that there was breathable air. He put his helmet on his right thigh, attaching it magnetically to his armor. Taking a seat, he started to hack through the computer systems, all the while, taking looks at the door every few minutes. His body was still on edge, and his instincts screamed for him to get out of the station, he put those feeling down immediately, focusing on the task at hand.

An hour or so of looking through the station's surveillance videos, Thane stumbled upon a video of three days ago, the time since the "all okay" signal had been registered on the system. The video showed a view of the system's relay, while, on an adjacent screen, the battlegroup protecting Imorha was doing its standard patrol around the two outer planets of the system. He fast-forwarded the video for a few seconds before stopping. The relay had started to show activity, and before long, a single merchant ship appeared.

He fast forwarded again, noting a part of the video becoming static. He paused, before rewinding the video a couple minutes and putting play. The video once again showed the relay deliver another ship into the system. Thane's eyes widened in surprise at what he saw, as he could not identify what he was looking at. The ship was unorthodox in design, cylindrical like shape with what appeared to be many protuberances around the hull. The ship started to turn a vibrant yellow, and then, the screen turned to static.

Thane blinked multiple times in confusion before fast-forwarding once again. The static lasted for hours, in video time. He was about to move on to the next video when the image returned, and what he saw surprised him even more than the ship's appearance. The time marked on the video was eight hours after the unknown ship had arrived, and the station's cameras showed no ship presence on the system. He looked at the station's sensors logs of that time, noticing that there was a gap in them while the video showed static. After skipping through the error messages, he finally found what he needed.

Connecting his omni-tool to the terminal, he downloaded all the data related to that period of time, from the videos themselves, to the station's pipes statuses. Before leaving the room, he spotted something odd on one of the screens. Turning to look that console, Thane noticed that it was live feed from the main pipe room. After zooming-in the camera, he frowned, an all too familiar scene depicted on the screen. On the room's floor was the dead body of a Batarian surrounded by its own blood.

The sudden sound of something moving through the outside corridor made him turn instantly, pistol at the ready while he prepared a biotic warp on his free hand. The thing making the sound outside seemed to be getting closer to his position before the sound stopped completely. His omni-tool beeped at that moment, making him jump slightly because of the unexpected action. _"It seems that I'm more on edge than I originally thought, and this station is not helping any."_ Thane thought as he tried to calm his heartbeat.

"Thane here." He said to his omni-tool as he accepted the call, his eyes locked into the room's only entrance.

"Thane, its Saren." Saren said from the other side of the radio, "Have you found anything on the station?"

Looking back at the monitor's screen, Thane answered, "Just a single video showing an unknown ship. Besides that, I found some logs registered eight hours after said ship arrived on the system." He frowned before adding, "As to anything regarding that time gap, I only got static and error messages from sensors."

The radio was silent for a few seconds before Saren answered, the frown on the Turian's face evident through the line. "I found evidence of a ship landing close to the city, it might be that ship that you mentioned. There's also no signs of hostile activity on the city, hell, there's still food on plates on some of the houses. It's as if the entire colony suddenly vanished."

"I see. There's something else that I need to check here on the station." Thane said as he started to make his way out of the room. "I'll contact you once I have more information." Pausing momentarily, Thane added, "Also, keep your eyes open out there, I believe that we are not alone on the system."

"What makes you think that?" Saren asked confused.

"There's a Batarian corpse on the main pipe room of the station. It might be the owner of the dropship docked here."

"Noted." Saren responded, "Once you are done, meet us on the spaceport. In the meantime, I'll call the Hierarchy to send a patrol group to the system."

"Understood, Thane out."

Putting his helmet back on, and turning the lights on, he moved through the corridor towards his destination. After taking some stairs down, Thane arrived at the main pipe room's door. He checked the terminal that was on the side of the door, once he was sure that the room was depressurized, he opened it. The first thing that he noted was the body of an Asari falling on the floor in front of him.

He immediately moved to grab her, an instinctive reaction that he stopped once he realized that the Asari was dead. He readied his Phalanx before entering the room to surveil it, in contrast with the other corridors, the room was well illuminated. Not too far from the dead Asari, he found the body of the Batarian next to the pipe controls. Moving on, Thane found no indication of a threat being present on the room.

He moved back to the entrance, intending to analyze the dead Asari. Turning the body to better examine it, he noted that there were scratch marks on her spacesuit, with a big breach on the abdominal area.

"The Asari's wounds show signs of being made with a sharp object, probably a knife or omni-blade." Thane said as the omni-tool recorded the log, the scanner of the omni-tool processing and obtaining data on the body as well, "Scan of the body reveal the victim is Alithe T'nelas, a mechanic scheduled to come to the station to do maintenance."

He looked up back to the room, noting an inconsistent trail of purple blood leading to a bigger pool. He scanned the trail and the pool, his assassin training coming in handy to know what to look for in the scene. Moving on towards the Batarian's dead body, he immediately noticed that his thorax had been ripped apart.

"The Batarian victim is male. Name, Ecranis Krak'nakk. He was the person in charge of training Alithe on this maintenance run. Reason of death: Highly unstable biotic warp." Thane said as his omni-tool once again recorded and scanned.

Thane frowned, something not adding up on the scene. For anyone else, it might have looked like they killed each other, but the positioning and orientation of the bodies, and expressions on the victim's face contradicted that.

" _Ecranis distance from Alithe show that he wasn't able to stab her, the lack of any weapon on the area also supports that."_ Moving closer to the body, Thane continued his mental analysis, _"The Batarian's expression is that of surprise, with his body oriented at the right of where Alithe's body is located. The location of the warp strike suggest that the assailant attacked from the front, an act impossible to do from Alithe's position. It seems like there was a third individual present on the scene."_ Thane thought before moving to the direction in which the Batarian was looking at, scanner analyzing the floor of the room. With a sudden beep, Thane stopped to look at the area marked by the omni-tool. Not finding anything visible to him, he looked back at the scanner's result. The omni-tool registered DNA residues of Diia T'molis.

"That's impossible. She was registered as missing two years ago." Thane said, the analyses confused him more.

He opened a channel to his teammates, intending to make a request and report his findings. Seconds after, Saren responded. "Thane? Did you found anything on the body?"

"Two bodies actually, there was an Asari here as well. Both were the maintenance team sent to the station."

"What happened to them? Did you found any clues as to who killed them or if they were collateral damage of the missing colonist?" Saren asked, hoping to find more concrete answers.

"I'm not entirely sure. My scans show that Diia T'molis was present as well, right now, she is the most likely suspect." Thane said as he looked at the spot with the DNA.

"Diia T'molis?" Reena said joining the conversation, "That's impossible." She said sounding incredulous.

"I know, she was reported missing on the other side of the galaxy." Thane said.

"No, I mean," Reena said before stopping, the sound of something shifting coming through the line before she continued, "Diia T'molis was found dead a few months ago. The authorities kept it quiet as the death of a matriarch would had caused more problems for her followers and their political climate. Officially, she died of a strange sickness a few months after her disappearance."

"I remember hearing about that," Saren said thoughtfully, "the case looked off from the beginning. But never mind that, you were saying Thane?"

"I'll need you to bring the ship to the station. I'm afraid that I won't be able to get more information without analyzing the bodies more in depth on the _Citadel_. Also." The sudden sound of something moving on the corridor stopped Thane from speaking. Closing the connection and sending a quick signal to Saren and Reena, Thane turned off his omni-tool and moved to the open door leading to the corridor.

Just as he took cover next to the door, Thane heard a scream, a scream of suffering. He peeked through the side of the cover, looking directly at the dark corridor, his shadow appearing on the corridor as well. There, he spotted a tall figure, pulsing with biotic energy and with its back to him. The thing seemed to sense his look as it turned, shooting a warp his way, along with a scream. Thane moved out of cover and back into the room, the resulting warp explosion taking down part of his kinetic barriers.

Before he could regain his balance, the thing was already inside the room and moving towards him. He absently noted that the thing looked like an Asari, but those thoughts were out of his mind as he evaded another warp, this one hitting one of the pipes. Liquid nitrogen started to come out of the damaged pipe, turning into gas at the sudden change in temperature.

Thane took the opportunity to cloak himself and position himself behind the attacker. Throwing a warp in her direction, followed by firing his Phalanx, Thane made short work of the Asari-like creature's barriers. Unfortunately for him, said being took notice of him and threw another warp his way. Rolling out of the way, Thane was surprised by the sudden appearance of the being right in front of him. The strong grip on his neck that lifted him to her eye level also surprised him, though not enough for him to activate his omni-blade and stab the creature on the eye.

The thing dropped him as a fragment of the omni-blade broke and stayed on her eye socket. Taking the opportunity, Thane closed in, M-11 at the ready, shooting the eight-bullet magazine on the thing's face. The rounds of the pistol tore apart the being's head until it finally stopped moving. Breathing heavily, Thane noticed the body starting to disintegrate, thinking quickly, he threw a stasis field to stop the process and analyze the Asari-like creature later.

Looking at the broken pipe, Thane moved to the controls of the room, closing said pipe and temporarily stabilizing the pressure on the station. The sound of footsteps caught his attention, picking up his Phalanx from the floor and reloading the M-11, Thane aimed both pistols at the door. Seconds after, Saren and Reena entered the room, weapons at the ready until they spotted Thane.

"Thane!" Reena said, noting the state in which his spacesuit was, "what happened?"

"I found the assassin," Thane said while chuckling. At their questioning looks, he pointed at the being trapped on the stasis bubble a few meters away.

Saren froze upon looking at the thing, or what was left of it. It was the same thing that had attacked him on Daratar. He immediately connected the dots as to what had happened, though there was still something that didn't add up with all of this.

Looking back at Thane and Reena, Saren said sternly, "It shouldn't be long before the Hierarchy arrives. Once that happens we are leaving to the Citadel with these three bodies."

"Do you know what that is?" Thane asked, his training noticing the signs of recognition on Saren's demeanor.

"Not here." Saren responded, "For now, let's go for the stasis capsules to transport the bodies. If my hunch is right, and I pray that I'm not, then this situation is direr than we initially thought."

"What about Anlea?" Reena asked.

"Who?" Thane asked confused at the unfamiliar name.

"The only survivor that we found on the city." Reena said, "She's just a kid, and I don't want her to see these bodies if we are bringing them."

Saren looked at Reena, before nodding in agreement. "Help us get the bodies on the capsules and then return to the ship. Make sure that Anlea stays in your room while Thane and I transport the bodies to the cargo bay. We'll take her with us to the Citadel to make sure that she gets the proper medical attention."

Both SPECTRES nodded before moving to the ship for the capsules. Saren stayed behind to make sure the stasis field stayed up. Thoughts on the beacon's vision that he had seen on Antida coming to mind.

 **January 15, 2173, Citadel Council Calendar; Serpent Nebula, Widow System,** ** _Citadel_** **Station, Sanctorum Hotel, Councilor Sparatus' Room.**

It was late in the afternoon when Sparatus returned to his room within the penthouse that the council was currently staying at. It had been a tiring day that was mostly spent preparing the proposition regarding active Geth within Citadel space. _"Thank the spirits that that ordeal is finally over with."_ Sparatus thought, thinking back to the constant hours of making the preposition as perfect as possible.

Even though the work had been tedious, Sparatus was sure that the Alliance, Batarians and, more importantly, the Geth would find the terms reasonable. Though there was still a wild variable on the proposition, the Quarian response once this made it into the galactic news. Sparatus frowned, he was no fan of the Geth, or the Quarians for that matter, but even he understood that these were changing times and one had to adapt to survive. He just hopped that the Quarians understood that. _"Even after centuries since the incident, we still pay for the mistakes made by our ancestors."_ Sparatus thought with a sigh, feeling the effects of his latest migraine on the past three hours.

The sound of an incoming holo-call took him out of his thoughts. Taking a moment to compose himself, he accepted the call. A holographic image of Saren appeared to the side of his desk, momentarily lifting Sparatus' spirits until he saw the Turian's expression.

Sparatus sighed for the nth time in the day, already guessing how the mission had ended. Even so, he had to ask, if only to make sure. "Your report agent?"

Saren put on a neutral mask, hiding his expression as best as he could before replying, "All but one of the habitants of Imorha are unaccounted for Councilor. More details are on the data-package that I just sent you." At his words, Sparatus' omni-tool beeped, signaling that it had received the information. "Councilor, there's something more. We found an specimen on the refueling station of the system. I need your authorization to bring it to the labs on deck Z-13."

At hearing those words, Sparatus moved his eyes from the data-package and back to the SPECTRE. The labs on that deck were ones of the most sophisticated and advanced labs in all of Citadel space, for those that knew of their existence that is. Sparatus' gaze analyzed Saren's posture, his military training as well as his knowledge in psychology coming to full use. After a few tense seconds, Sparatus nodded.

"You'll have your access" Sparatus started, "but, I want anything that you discover in those labs coming straight to me." He paused, thinking of his next words, "Also, find who's responsible for what happened to that colony. The evidence that you found is circumstantial at best and speculative at worst."

"Understood Councilor." Saren replied before cutting the connection. He had a few favors to call on his way to the Citadel.

Sparatus took a seat on the couch within his room. Another migraine starting to form as he tried to figure a way to cover the whole incident from the public. _"A whole colony gone, and not a trace as to what happened. If the public finds about this, then there will be unrest."_ Sparatus was no fool, he knew that eventually the news would come out, but he had to give his SPECTRES enough time to find the culprits and make them pay. _"Maybe Valern will have a few ideas._ " He thought before sending a message to his fellow councilor.

 **January 16, 2173, Citadel Council Calendar; Annos Basin, Pranas System, Sur'Kesh.**

Heavy rain poured down on the remains of Mal, a small city surrounded by rainforests. The city was home to the debris of multiple small ships, along a few frigates, the once tall and proud skyscrapers of the city were nothing but ruble on the streets. The forest around the city was in no better shape, its trees in a radius of 30 kilometers were bent parallel to the ground, while the surviving wildlife ran to the intact parts of the forests. Constant emergency shuttles landed and departed the city, taking refugees out or bringing ratios to the rescue teams. Other shuttles focused their attempts on clearing up the debris of ships and buildings that had trapped the few survivors of the disaster.

Behind a chain mountain, firebase Jade stood, intact from the cataclysmic event that took place a few kilometers from their position. The mountains themselves having protected the structure, along its inhabitants, from the appearance and departure of the Guardian. Within the base, multiple screens showed live feed of the city, and the rescue operations taking place. Others showed the feed recorded of the Guardian, along all the data that the Salarians had managed to obtain from it.

It was in one of these screens that Mordin Solus was working. His eyes tracking the video feed of the Guardian while analyzing a frequency obtained from it. It didn't take him long to spot a pattern between both sources.

"Frequency increases in amplitude momentarily every time the object causes an energy shockwave. Not surprising." Mordin said to himself, "Hmm, there's noise left behind after each of those amplitudes."

Hearing Mordin, Saelen Varn approached him, a data-pad containing the information that he was analyzing on hand. He took a look into Mordin's screen, before looking back at his data-pad. Like Mordin, it didn't take him long to find something interesting.

"Mordin." Saelen said before passing him the data-pad.

Mordin looked at the given information, before looking back at the screen analyzing the frequency, and back to the data-pad again. He smiled, knowing already what Saelen had told him wordlessly.

"It seems like the noise is the key." Mordin started, before looking at Saelen, "Have a team analyze the frequency for any kind of message, and compare this information with the one obtained on the Sentinels found on the Big Ring."

Saelen nodded at that before Mording added, "How's the cover story going?"

"Officially, one of our ships suffered a drive core malfunction while testing a new prototype drive. The resulting debris of the explosion entered the atmosphere and crash landed on Mal." Saelen responded, "We are already feeding forged images of the disaster to the media to keep them busy. That'll buy us at least, two more days to clear off the extra debris of our ships." He stopped, as he thought carefully of his next statement, "We are currently working on silencing the witnesses of the event, most are easily bribed but I'm afraid that we will have to silence the more vocal ones, permanently."

"I see." Mordin said with a hint of sadness, "Make it look like an accident then."

"Not to worry, many are reported missing in this kind of disasters." Saelen said in a vain attempt to lighten the mood.

Seeing his attempt fail, Saelen left to carry out his orders. He wasn't happy with what had to be done, but he wasn't STG for nothing. The rest of the room had ignored the two superiors talking, mainly because they were busy dealing with any possible leaks thought the extranet and other sources. But everyone knew one thing, this event will change the course of Salarian society, as well as, their relationship with the Alliance.

"I wonder, did the Alliance knew of this already, or is this just an isolated event?" Mordin mussed while looking at the Guardian. The architecture of the object easily giving it away as Forerunner made.

Outside the base, the thunderstorm increased in ferocity, as lightning strikes could be seen more frequently. It was through this weather that Saelen moved to one of the labs. His eyes fixated into an object recovered from the cave that the Guardian had emerged from. It had a boomerang like shape, with a clear sphere in the center, the construct, like the Guardian, was obviously Forerunner made. STG had found hundreds of these things on the cave, all of them deactivated. Their similarities to the Sentinels found on the Big Ring not going unnoticed by them. Saelen sat in front of it, running scans and other analysis on the object to figure out its purpose.

"It'll be a long week." He sighted, "I'll have to let my wife know that I'll be pulling some extra hours on my job." He said while chuckling at his own humor.

 **January 14, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar,** **Perseus Veil, Tikkun System, Rannoch.**

The room was dark, giving an appearance of endless space, but for all that it knew, it might as well be. Multiple lines of orange light ran through the walls in all directions. The impression of endless space made clearer by the surrounding darkness. Extending its limbs to the sides, the intruder propelled itself upwards, moving through the corridor until it finally came to the first checkpoint between it and its prey. A simple hack was everything it took for the security measures to be easily dispatched, letting it through without setting the alarm off.

A moment later, it arrived at the second checkpoint in the labyrinth that was the installation, the multiples lines of light not helping any on the orientation within the place. Like the first checkpoint, it was easily bypassed. It failed to notice the small red light flickering behind it as it moved to the next level. As it moved further in into the installation, it started to notice the lack of security on the area, the lines of lights continued still, but they were many more than before. It finally arrived at the last checkpoint after dispatching another two on the way, but this one, was already open, letting it pass through with no obstruction what so ever.

It was the last mistake that it made, the alarm activated as soon as it passed through what was previously an open door. The orange lights disappeared in a show of data, leaving behind multiple cube-like structures flowing through the cyber-space. It had barely time to register what happened when the cube-like structures converged on it, trapping it within their data. Sensing the danger to the information that it contained, the program deleted itself, negating its attackers the chance to hack it.

Back in the planet, two Geth troopers entered the server room, assault rifles at hand as they aimed at the single Geth within the room. It turned, to look at them, its eye turning red before flames erupted from the room. The Geth platforms of the troopers were destroyed, but not the data that they contained within. The same could not be said about the kamikaze unit.

All around the planet, the Geth stopped momentarily what they were doing, their united consciousness analyzing the events that took part nanoseconds ago before coming to a decision. On Rannoch's orbit, a Geth dreadnaught deployed multiple small scout ships. Like their parent ships, they had wasp like appearance, but to a much smaller scale. Run only by software, with no space for any platforms to be within, the ships made their way to the relay, passing by the few Alliance and Batarian ships that were on the system. A quick message to the commanding officers of both groups was all they needed to let the small ships pass through the defensive blockade around the relay.

Seconds after a blue arc of lightning sent the multiple ships to their intended destinations within the Traverse. The ships would scout multiple systems, both occupied and unoccupied by colonists, along with everything in between.

"Sir," the communications officer aboard the UNSC-Destroyer _Munich_ said, "The Geth are requesting yours, and Captain Cres'reth presence aboard the _Amalgamation_."

The Captain raised an eyebrow, curious as to why the Geth made such request to both commanding officers. "Any reason given why?"

"It seems that there was a Heretic incursion on Rannoch." The officer said before returning to his duties. "Also, captain Cres'reth is already on his way."

The captain nodded, making his way toward the hangar bay, letting his XO take over the bridge with a message through the neural link. In the same manner, he sent the order to prepare a shuttle for departure.

The system stayed quiet after that, with the occasional ship entering or exiting the system, bringing with it resources and other goods to and from the three allies' systems. Hours after, both, a Batarian and Human ship, sent their own unmanned drones through the relay or via slip-space to the Traverse.

 **January 14, 2173, Citadel Council Calendar; Serpent Nebula, Widow System,** ** _Citadel_** **Station, Civilian Sector.**

Garrus arrived at his apartment after his weekly psychological evaluation with the council approved psychiatrist for the teams studying, and protecting, the remains of Sovereign. Said psychiatrist, like the teams, had signed a confidentiality contract, one that if violated, would result in your immediate arrest for treason.

Garrus went straight to the shower after a long session with the psychiatrist. _"It appears that being a guard isn't as boring as I first thought."_ He thought to himself as he remembered the incident in the lab, bringing a small chuckle from him at the expense of the poor scientist responsible for said incident.

It wasn't long before he was in his apartment's kitchen, ready to eat something when his intercom beeped. He was a bout to answer when he saw which intercom was the one making the sound. He moved to his room, closing the door alongside the windows; as a final security measure, he pressed a button within the closet, effectively securing the room from outside ears. _"Well, I can't deny that working for them has its benefits."_ The motion took him less than a minute before he answered the call. The projectors within his room detected the incoming transmission from the registered device, providing a projection of the incoming message. An image of a single planet.

"Garrus." Garrus heard The Illusive Man say through the communication device, "We have a new situation. I'll let my associate here explain the details."

Before Garrus could respond, a new voice made its presence known. The voice itself was synthetic, that much Garrus could tell. _"An AI then."_ He thought, his fear of AIs long forgotten thanks in part to recent political events in Citadel space.

"This is Imorha. An Asari and Turian joint colony on the frontier with the Terminus." The AI said before the holographic image changed into that of a city within the planet. "Our probes have reported that its entire population is missing. The SPECTRE team sent to investigate seemed to find only a sole survivor. Said survivor is currently being transported to the Citadel."

"Any idea as to who are the culprits?" Garrus asked, a sentiment of dread washing over him at the magnitude of the event.

"We initially suspected the two remaining Reapers," The Illusive Man interjected, "but the energy reading left on space, along with the video file recovered by the SPECTRE team, suggest another culprit." At this, said video file was played.

Garrus ignored the obvious hacking of the SPECTRE team's systems to obtain the data, instead, focusing on the short video file. He saw an unknown ship, its design completely different to any ship that he had seen, be it in person or through the Citadel records.

"Any ideas as to who they are?" The Illusive Man continued after a short pause, "We are running comparison within our data banks, but we haven't found any matches yet."

Garrus looked at the data displayed before sighing, "It's possible that the Collectors are involved, the ship sure matches the few eye-witnesses descriptions. However, we have never seen reports of their ships. The only information that we have about them are rumors."

"I see. You mean the species that reside behind the Omega-4 Relay?" Seeing Garrus nod through the holographic connection, T.I.M. continued, "Its possible, however, with no evidence connecting them to the facts, there's nothing that we can do but keep investigating. Garrus, be ready to leave the Citadel on call." He said between smokes, "If another of these incidents happens, I'll send you in to investigate."

With that, T.I.M. cut the connection. Garrus sighed before laying down on his bed. "Well, there goes my psychiatrist prescribed shore leave." He said before going back to the kitchen to eat something.

 **XXXXX**

Back with T.I.M, he looked over a data-pad, his expression becoming more inquisitive the more he read. Looking at the floating monitor, he waited for an answer to his unasked inquiry.

"Ah! I see that you finally read over the report." 216-Redeemer said as it projected a hologram of a station, "One of my patrolling Sentinels found it by chance, close to the edge of the galaxy. Radiance, a small research outpost tasked with researching the Andromeda galaxy." With that said, the hologram changed to a debris field, "Or so it was until a few months."

"A few months?" T.I.M. asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes, the sentinel who found it, discovered its remains. After making some scans, as well as managing to find a functioning terminal onboard, it discovered that it was attacked by an unknown force around six months ago."

"Why are we finding about this just now? Also, did you find anything that can point us to the assailants?" He asked with an annoyed tone.

"The station made infrequent communications with the rest of the Alliance." Redeemer said with what could be classified as an exasperated sigh, "a lack of communication this long from them is not unheard of. As to your other question, the only thing that I can tell you is that, the assailants used some form of particle weaponry and railguns. We also managed to find what we assume to be the remains of the crew, some are tied to the surviving walls of the station, covered in some unknown organic material."

T.I.M. nodded in response. Standing up from his chair, he made his way to the holographic communicator, "Put Patterson on the line, security code, Sigma-Osiris-77." He said before stopping as the communicator powered up, "ONI needs to know about this."

 **Unknown Calendar; Unknown location.**

"Sir," A reptilian like creature said, "All satellites have assumed geosynchronous orbit around our territory."

"Good," the one in charge answered, his reptilian eyes looking at the monitor showing said orbits. "Start transmitting the message, and have the satellites monitor the system for any kind of anomaly."

"Do you really think that someone will answer?" Another one asked.

"It is a big galaxy." The one in charge said, his reptilian eyes focusing on the one who spoke, "It'll be sad if we were the only intelligent species on it." The sharp tooted grin that he had on his face contradicting the message that they had sent, though not making it any less true. _"If there is life out there, would it be peaceful?"_ He thought as he looked at the transmission progress on one of the screens, _"Or would it be hostile?"_ At that, his head turned to the view of the system and the ships orbiting a single planet and its two moons.

The Qanesh were a reptilian species, capable of surviving on water and land alike, though they favored land over water. While peaceful in nature, they were no strangers to war, nor did they shy away from it. Having recently come from a civil war no less than thirty years ago, they had adopted a policy of weariness, and preferred to not leave anything to chance. It was for this very same reason that they had strengthened their system's defenses before sending the first contact package to the wide galaxy. Even if it could take weeks, or even centuries before anyone intercepted the transmission, they took no chances. Their fleet alone was one-hundred ships strong, with five of those being three-kilometer behemoths. The rest of the ships ranged in between 500 meters to 1.5 kilometers long.

The strength in numbers was thanks to one of their moons, one who was actively mined for resources; in particular, titanium, along other alloys. The second moon was the complete opposite of the first. Featuring multiple rivers along its surface, along with a forest biodiversity, the moon was like a second homeworld for the Qanesh once they settled on it a little bit over a century ago. Though extremely cold in some seasons, they had adapted to the place well.

Socially, the Qanesh adopted a policy of securing and reinforcing any settlements they made before expanding, a result from the multiple civil and clan wars that raged through their history centuries ago, and more recently, the unification war that happened. Though many conflicts were present in their history, many more were prevented by their more diplomatic nature, always putting war as a last resort. This, however, did not deter them from expanding their military prowess, hence the fleet protecting their small system, along with the many planet and moon side defenses.

Shaking his inner history lesson out of the way, the Qanesh leader of the room made his way out, trusting his subordinates to have everything in control should anything happen. _"In any case, if we make first contact with any species, regardless of their intentions, it'll mean that we are not alone."_ The though oddly comforting him, just like many others of his species.

 **A/N: And another chapter done with. The next one should be up in two or so weeks.**

 **Now, in regards to that last part, I'm afraid that I won't answer any questions regarding them as that'll take some mystery out of future plot points on the story, though I can say this, they will play an important role latter on (way latter on tho) and while not the most important role, their contribution will make a difference in the end.**

 **Now, for the next chapter, expect to see some big explosions, and an encounter that probably many of you thought of years ago (when Halo 5 came out). Until next time, C'ya.**


	5. A New Covenant

**The Next Great Journey: Awakening**

 **DISCLAIMERS: I don't own any Halo or Mass Effect products; they belong to their respective owners.**

 **Beta Reader:** **l3loodKnight**

 **Quote in Bold letters citation:**

 **Mission Impossible III. Dir. J.J. Abrams. Performers. Tom Cruise, Michelle Monaghan, Ving Rhames. Paramount Pictures. 2006. DVD.**

Chapter 5: A New Covenant

 **January 13** **, Age of Resurrection, Loyalist Covenant Calendar; Close to Caspar System, CSO-Class Supercarrier** ** _Vengeance Coming_** **, Bridge.**

The twenty-nine-kilometer ship crossed through the slip-stream with two of its escorts. Said escorts being a pair of battlecruisers who had entered the same portal as their mothership. It was within the supercarrier that Jul M'Dama observed a hologram of the Caspar system, specifically, the hologram of Kamchatka. The system was located on the outer edges of the galaxy, though still within the Attican Traverse. Its closest neighbors being Sentry Omega and the Hades Nexus systems, both being a few days away by either relay or slip-space travel.

" _It's perfect."_ Jul thought as he studied the defenses of Kamchatka, _"The system is so isolated that none will know what happen until it is too late. And with the support of the rest of the San'Shyuum, Vengeance's remaining followers won't know what hit them. Not counting the pitiful state in which the space defenses are."_

It had been too easy for Jul to convince the San'Shyuum council of Vengeance's apparent treason. Too easy that he almost felt bad for manipulating them so blatantly. With their help secured, Jul now had unlimited access to any resource that he wished from the Janjur Qom system.

"Fleet master," A Sangheili officer said, "our spies within the enemy ranks have reported in. They'll act as soon as you give them the signal."

Jul did the equivalent of smile before nodding. With everything going according to plan, he went back to his command chair. Pressing a few commands, a miniature projection of Kamchatka appeared; its defense fleet being marked in greens and reds.

Minutes later, the ship and its escorts exited the slip-stream. "Keep us in our approximation vector." Jul said calmly as his ship spearheaded for the enemy formation. "Contact their fleet. Keep up appearances until we are within range."

The defense fleet, unaware of what was to come, remained on standard patrol, making a slight hole in their formation to let the incoming ship pass and dock with one of the many docking stations orbiting Kamchatka. For the next few minutes, nothing happened, until the three ships were within the defense fleet. The sides of the super carrier, along with the two battlecruisers lighted up momentarily before a stream of pulse lasers and plasma torpedoes were fired. The enemy ships immediately next to them exploded in flashes of light as their shield were overwhelmed and reactors went critical.

In the chaos, the defenders failed to notice the thirty or so ships that opened fire within their ranks. Said fire being directed at their supposed allies. Five more ships went down, either in explosions or by being left dead in space. The Geth ships on the fleet started to open fire on the attackers, their synthetic brains already processing what had happened and responding in kind. Not soon after, multiple slip-space portals opened around the fleet.

With the arrival of the rest of Jul's forces, there was nothing that the defenders could do. Plasma torpedoes raced through the void of space, taking energy shields down and burning hulls, only to be followed by pulse lasers tearing through the hulls of said ships.

One of the destroyers positioned itself atop a Geth ship, with a momentarily show of light underneath the destroyer, multiple plasma torpedoes rained on the Geth ship. Not equipped to deal with that form of attack, the ship succumbed within seconds before exploding. The destroyer lived a short victory however, as it was soon bombarded with pulse laser fire from two nearby battlecruisers.

Not to die in a shameful way, the destroyed set a collision course with one of the attacking ships, all the while firing its full arsenal. Though its attempt would be in vain as it was destroyed long before it reached any of the ships.

From his seat, Jul watched the chaos that had descended the enemy fleet. His spies with the fleet had successfully taken over a handful of ships within their ranks. With the magnitude of the surprise attack, the space battle ended within minutes, with the enemy fleet in disarray due to the betrayal of some of their ships. All that remained was to take over the planet.

"Commence the invasion." Jul said while standing over the topographical projection of the planet. "I want a precise orbital bombardment along this area. Send in spec-ops teams to mark the targets. The rest of our forces will attack from these two points. Once we take the main temple, the battle will be over." Jul ordered while marking the areas.

With a high concentration of Forerunner artifacts on the planet, extensive bombardment would have to be avoided during the course of the invasion. _"The easy part went as planned. Let's hope that the rest of the attack goes as well."_ He thought.

 **January 16, 2173, Citadel Council Calendar; Systems Alliance Occupied System, Military Fortress Moon.**

The sand storm had come unexpectedly around the base. Visibility was at a minimum and communication systems were filled with static. The base lights were on to increase visibility, though they may as well not be there.

"Fuck!" Irnant heard, male by the tone of voice. "Where does all this sand come from?"

"Shut up and keep watch Mark. Or do you want to tell the commander why there's an iguana inside the perimeter?" A female voice said half-jokingly and half exasperated with her companion.

"That's the thing! Nothing ever happens here. No intruders. Not a single thing going out of control on the base. Hell! There's not event a decent television signal in here."

Mark's companion just sighed in exasperation, wondering for the 'ith time why she was stuck with him. She was about to respond when something caught her eye. "Hey, twelve o'clock, did you see that?"

"See what?" Mark asked as he looked in the direction that his companion pointed out. "It's the wind Jessica. Like I said…"

The now identified Jessica kept watching in the direction that she saw movement, giving up after some seconds, _"As much as I hate to admit it, Mark is right. Nothing ever happens here."_ Jessica thought. Signaling her companion to move on, they kept going on their patrol.

"You are clear." Irnant heard through her radio. Taking it as her que, she moved in into the base. The sand storm had come as a surprise, though a welcome one. "Remember, once you are within, you'll have 10 minutes before the systems on the base detect you."

Irnant didn't answer, she already knew that. After all, she was the one that had done most of the work since they arrived in the moon. _"The extraction team should arrive at any moment."_ She thought. It had taken the Salarians some time to set everything up for the mission, having to coordinate two separate teams arriving at different times and completely undetected. As of the moment, Irnant was on the clock, having a limited window of time to act before the risk of detection grew too big.

Entering the base was a simple affair. With her active camouflage and the jammers distributed around the base, she was near undetectable. Though that immunity wouldn't last for long, not with the AIs present on the base. Moving close to one of the walls of the main building, she deactivated her camouflage. A quick motion later, she fired her grappling hook to the building's roof, attaching itself magnetically to the metal surface. With another command on her omni-tool, she was pulled up effortlessly.

"Time to start the show." She said to herself as she activated a few commands. All around the base, the jammers that she had planted before inserted multiple viruses onto the base's computers. She noted the start of a timer in her HUD before she opened one of the ventilation shafts before squishing inside. Moving carefully on the tight space, she made it to some form of maintenance room. Cutting open the ventilation shaft, she moved it to the side, the sound of the machines in the room tuning out the noise she made.

Using the nearby machinery to take cover, Irnant activated her active cameo before moving further in. The room was mostly isolated, with only a couple of technicians moving around, checking on the status of the machinery at work, though there were also a couple of drones flying around. Avoiding the drones had been relatively easy, though she had to be careful when hacking the door open. Once outside, she followed the route marked by her HUD, noting along the way that the patrols seemed more in alert. _"Seems like they noticed the attack to their systems."_ Irnant thought to herself as she rounded a corner. Spotting her destination, Irnant hacked the door open and entered, seeing her first target on the adjacent room.

"…are you sure that everything is under control?" A woman's voice could be heard on the adjacent room.

"Affirmative ma'am." A male's voice responded through what Irnant assumed was an intercom of some sort, "our Vis are currently working on restoring our sensors. As for the cause, we are suspecting the sudden sand storm to be responsible."

Ignoring the conversation for the moment, Irnant activated her Omni-tool. Typing some commands, the footage that the cameras on the room were transmitting was quickly replaced. On the control room, the guard saw a little static on one of the cameras, but ignored it, thinking it was due to the current problems being experienced by the storm. Similarly, the AI of the base was more preoccupied with restoring the more crucial systems on the base.

With the conversation done, Irnant pulled out an M6C/SOCOM pistol before pressing a holographic key on her omi-tool. Her image flickered for a second before a copy of the Human woman in the other room appeared on Irnant's place. Moving silently towards the other woman, Irnant placed the gun's barrel in the back of the head of the other inhabitant of the room. Reacting on reflex, said woman moved her body to the side while also using her left hand to deflect the gun holding arm downwards. Looking at her would be assailant, she was surprised to see a copy of herself standing in front of her, sadly, her momentary surprise was all that her assailant needed.

Using her right arm, the one holding the gun, Irnant immediately elbowed the woman on the head, taking her off-balance before following with a reverse turning kick. The following having the effect of sending the woman to the floor. Positioning on top of her, Irnant held the gun barrel in front of her face. Taking a small card out and holding it in front of her, Irnant said with a synthetized voice, "Read it."

Said woman glared at her copy, though she regretted it soon after as pain assaulted her face due to the kick she received. "What makes you think that I'll comply?" She said instead, her anger clearly showing.

"One word. Sargasso."

Understanding the meaning behind those words, the woman clenched her fists before doing what was asked of her. **"The pleasure of Buzby's company is what I most enjoy. He put a tack on Miss Yancy's chair when she called him a horrible boy. At the end of the month he was flinging two kittens across the width of the room. I count on his schemes to reveal the…"** With a confused expression, she asked, "What the hell is this?"

In response, Irnant moved the gun to the neck and fired. A dart came out, knocking out the woman in her place. On Irnant's HUD, a message appeared stating _Voice identification patter finished._ "Well, now to work on the details." Irnant said with the knocked-out woman's voice.

After scanning any identifications on the woman, as well as the eyes and fingerprints, Irnant now had said identification on her person. Leaving the body inside the closet, after taking any physical identifications that the Human had, and moving a piece of furniture in front of the door, Irnant exited the room, locking it behind her. With a calm pace, the now disguised Irnant made her way towards the server room, returning back the military salutes that the patrols gave her when she passed by.

With no problems, or questions asked on her way, Irnant stopped in front of the security check of the server room. Clicking some keys into her disguised omni-tool, she proceeded to go through the eye-scanner, followed by the fingerprint and voice scans. The computer lock took a couple seconds before it unlocked itself, letting her inside.

"Major Adler," The technician inside the room said, surprise evident on his voice. "What a surprise to see you here." He said once he saw the sign to be at ease.

"Just checking around. I heard that the current system problems that we are experienced are almost dealt with?"

"Actually, we have identified the source of the problems. I was about to send a report your way, but…well, you arrived here first."

"Oh? Do show me then."

"Of course. If you can come here you'll see that…" Further conversation was cut short as Irnant fired a dart to the technician as soon as he turned around. Moving closer to the main terminal in the room, she pulled out a device, connecting it to the server before a downloading bar appeared on screen.

"TO ALL FORCES ON THE BASE. WE HAVE AN INFILTRATOR POSING AS MAJOR ADLER ON THE BASE. I REPAT, THE INILTRATOR IS POSING AS MAJOR ADLER. NEUTRALIZE THE INTRUDER IMMEDIATELY."

"Shit, how did they figure it out already?" Irnant murmured to herself as the download went halfway through. She didn't have much time and she knew it. Making a decision, she stopped the download and took the device, taking what little data she managed to download with her.

"Delta-1 do you copy? Delta-3 here, I've been compromised. Be ready for extraction plan bravo over." Irnant said as she made her way to the hangar.

Rounding a corner, Irnanr immediately backtracked into the corridor which she had come from. Soon after, bullets flew in her general direction, the plasma bolts, as well as the chemically propelled bullets impacting the wall to her left.

"Noted Delta-3, proceed to the agreed extraction point over." She barely heard through her radio before pulling a grenade. Priming it, she threw the grenade towards her assailants' direction, counting until 3 before a flash was seen. Groans of pain and annoyance were heard, giving her the que to continue advancing. Passing by the blinded and temporarily deaf soldiers, Irnant made her way towards the base's hangar.

"Who's idea was it to send me armed with only a dart pistol." She grunted to herself, "Oh right, I needed space for all the power systems." She remembered. Her current life-like disguise, while easily breakable under her current conditions, was only maintaining itself up due to the amount of systems dedicated to supplement it the power and sensors necessary to keep it up. Systems, which, unfortunately for Irnant, took up much of her armor's space and compartments usually used to store weapons and ammunition.

Taking a left, Irnant finally arrived at her destination, though she had encountered a couple of patrols on her way. Some she passed by using her active-cameo, others, by using the remaining of her flash grenades. Spotting what she identified as a mongoose, Irnant made a bee-line for it. Using one of the electronic keys that she took from the Human she was posing as, Irnant unlocked the mongoose before driving away. Soon after, she started to heard gunshots directed her way.

She accelerated, using the mongoose's computer to open the hangar door. The sand immediately entered the base, causing her pursuers to take cover and avoid the sudden influx of sand. Driving into the storm, her disguise systems seemed to finally overload before they shot down, leaving the Salarian visible to the open eye. Luckily for her, the storm made great cover to keep her hidden from the base's guards. Managing to exit the base, Irnant directed the vehicle towards the extraction point, only for her to see search lights to her right.

Looking up, she spotted what appeared to be a phantom. She accelerated as the transport's turrets opened fire on her. Steering the wheel of the mongoose to the left, she barely avoided the incoming plasma fire.

As if on que, the sandstorm appeared to respond in kind to what was occurring, lighting strikes started to come from within the massive cloud of sand. Some of the lightning strikes propagate midway down to their discharge target, hitting multiple spots on the ground below. Red and blue spots appeared on the ground, marking the spots were lightnings had stroked the ground.

Irnant saw this, she also noted that said storm was between her and her current destination. Taking the chance, she dived the mongoose into the storm. Lightning, alongside plasma fire, started to rain around her; using the maneuverability of the mongoose to her advantage, Irnant managed to avoid the lightning strikes thanks in part to the data feed that her omni-tool provided her. The phantom on the other hand, wasn't as lucky. One of the lightning strikes hit the aerial transport, the electricity discharge overloading the systems within momentarily. The thrusters started to lose power, the systems within trying in vain to resupply the engines to no avail. Within moments, the phantom went down, crashing to Irnant's right just as another lightning strike hit the downed phantom. Moments later, an explosion engulfed the downed vehicle as a more intense and long-lasting lightning strike hit it.

Looking on ahead, Irnant noticed that visibility was back once again, only to widen her eyes at what she saw. Up ahead, multiple tornadoes started to form, and in front of them, the lightnings stroked the earth in a way that made them appear like glassing beams. Moving the vehicle out of the way, Irnant sent her current location and destination to her team, hopping that the signal would get through the storm. The mongoose accelerated just as the storm closed in on her position, the lightning strikes, and the centripetal force, increasing as the seconds ticked by. Throughout the entire ordeal, Irnant kept a calm mind, her mind quickly processing her emotions, as well as, the information that her senses recollected.

With another increase in speed, Irnant managed to exit the storm.

"…nt?! Irna…pond. Over." She heard through the radio alongside a background of static.

"Irnant here. I managed to shake off my pursuers. I request immediate evacuation over."

There was a moment of silence after she responded. Irnant thought that the signal had been lost once again before her team responded. "Noted, we are approaching your coordinates. ETA: 20 seconds, over."

With that, Irnant started to slow down the mongoose. Exiting the vehicle and using her omni tool to overload its systems, Irnant left the vehicle there, for the storm to pick it up. Up in the distance, Irnant noticed the incoming Salarian transport. A couple of seconds later, it skidded off close to the surface, a side door opening to reveal the Salarian team onboard. Irnant didn't waste any second, she moved inside before handing the device over to another Salarian, this one checking the contents for any hidden bugs or any sort of problem.

The Salarian noticed something odd. He looked at Irnant, expecting an explanation. "Security systems detected my presence much earlier than expected. I had to take off with what little I had managed to obtain from their computers." The Salarian nodded, accepting the explanation before giving the go ahead to the pilot. With the information obtained, the Salarians expected to have personal energy shielding systems within a few months, though ship shields was still a long way ahead.

The shuttle accelerated upwards, activating its camouflage systems before clearing the sector. It would take hours for the Salarian ship to pass undetected through the Alliance controlled system, but once they were far enough from the Alliance ships' sensors, they would enter FTL towards their awaiting mothership.

 **January 13** **, Age of Resurrection, Loyalist Covenant Calendar; Caspar System, C** **SO-Class Super Carrier** _ **Vengeance Coming**_ **,** **Orbit above Kamchatka.**

Zealot Assassin, Cet 'Muhom looked over at the holographic display of the battlefield below. His reptilian eyes tracking the enemy movements in response to Jul's attack force. He could see as the main assault force faced great opposition on one of the valleys leading to the main temple. With a gesture from his hand, the hologram moved east and zoomed in, giving vision to a clearing occupied by AAGs, the ones responsible for the lack of air support on the battleground. It was only due to the fear of awakening the Prometheans on the planet that they had yet to be bombed from orbit. They had already faced some setbacks on the invasion front, they didn't need a wild card on the field as well. Turning off the holographic table, Cet walked towards the other Sangheili in the room as the lights of the room turned green.

"The time has come Khato." He simply said to the other Zealot.

Khato 'Gatamai, a Zealot Assassin in training that Cet had taken under his wing, and his teammate for the incoming mission. Cet had first met him when the Alliance had launched a surprise attack on their fleet in hopes of capturing the Janus key that Jul possessed. Suffice to say, that the team of "Demons" sent their way had been neutralized by both. During the assault, Cet had been surprised by the amount of skill that the young Sangheili had shown at the time. Resourceful being the way that Cet had described Khato on that engagement. Unlike most of their brothers, Khato had not being dissuaded by the thought of using anything as a weapon in order to survive and overcome a difficult opponent.

He had respected that, as well as how he had managed to eliminate two of the Demons before being overwhelmed himself. Cet had jumped in after that, saving the jewel among the Zealots that he had seen in there. Since then, both had partaken in multiple operations against the Alliance, accumulating a significant number of eliminations of the Alliance's Demons along the process. Something that Jul had quickly noticed.

"What do these mongrels wish to achieve by mounting a doomed defense?" Khato asked mockingly as he boarded his Type-51 Individual Breaching Carapace, or IBC for short.

"They are heretics, led astray by that traitorous serpent of Vengeance. They probably think that the Prometheans will come to their aid just because they are trenched within their creator's ruins." Cato responded as he closed his IBC.

A small screen appeared within Cato's IBC, giving an image of the exterior. On the left bottom left hand corner of the screen, a smaller screen appeared showing Khato. "Blinded by the events in Requiem then. Even Jul knows that the Prometheans helped us there only due to chance and convenience."

The conversation was ended there as the mechanism holding the IBCs moved the pods, entering a small elevator before the floor below them opened. Down below, a view of Kamchatka could be seen. The clouds covering the planet giving nothing away of the conflict bellow them. Seconds later, the two pods were launched from the ship. Cet looked towards the carrier, seeing as a volley of plasma torpedoes were launched towards the planet bellow.

After a short while, flames started to cover the pod as they the atmosphere. The flames soon gave away to show a clear sky, before the mountains on the planet made themselves known. Both pods adjusted their trajectory, before the bottom thrusters were engaged. Cet tried to secure himself within the pod, he never liked being deployed in these things. Feeling too exposed for his own comfort. With a sudden impact, Cet knew that they had landed. The front wall of the pod made a hissing sound before it launched itself off from its hinges. No sooner had the pod opened, Cet jumped out, storm rifle at the ready as he scanned his surroundings.

"Clear." He said, "Let's hurry, the sooner we take those air defenses down, the sooner this invasion will be over."

Khato didn't say anything, only nodding before taking the lead. The sound of AA-batteries could be heard close by as both Zealots moved through the edge of a cliff, part of the ground falling off as they moved ahead. On the far side, they could see multiple explosions taking place, as well as, banshees flying over the battlefield. Up in the distance, both of them saw as a Geth frigate started to bombard an area. Not sudden had the assault started, when the clouds above the frigate turned red. An energy projector had been fired. The Geth ship stood no chance, succumbing immediately to the energized matter. A chain reaction of explosions started to occur around the ship before it detonated. The energy projector stopped its assault, its job already done.

Meanwhile, both zealots anchored themselves to the mountain, the shockwave of the ship exploding having caused the unstable ground beneath them to fall apart. "Be sure to be anchored properly in case of an avalanche." Cet said as both of them moved ahead. Khato responded in the affirmative as he used his ice axe to get a better hold.

It took them minutes to reach the other side, at one point having to stop as rocks started to fall ahead of them. Moving on ahead, both Zealots made it to a cliff overlooking the AA-batteries.

"Cet here, we are in position." He said through the radio.

"Noted. We'll start our diversion; proceed as planned." A Sangheili responded on the other end.

Turning towards Khato, Cet nodded before taking out a beam rifle. In response, Khato activated his active camouflage before moving down via rappel. When he reached the bottom, Khato noted that the troops around the basecamp started to move north, leaving behind a skeleton crew to defend the place.

"Alright, the IFF-tags are working properly. I have visual on you" Cet said through the radio. "Be careful, you got two contacts between the two buildings ahead of you. Take them out or wait for them to move, your call."

"Be ready to eliminate the one on the left. The other one is mine." Khato said as he readied his energy short-blade. Moving closer, and stealthy, towards the two Jiralhanae. Khato graved the head of his target before stabbing him on the neck. The other one dropping dead as he killed his prey. The sound of the AA-guns muffled the sound of the beam rifle's shot, giving the camouflaged zealot the chance to hide the bodies.

Taking advantage of his active-camo, Khato made his way towards one of the automated batteries. Setting the charges up, he repeated the process on the other two batteries, with Cet taking out a couple of targets that were on the way. Moving outside the blast radius, Khato readied his storm riffle before decloaking. A Geth unit noticed him first but was too late to do anything as Khato fired on it, the plasma shots easily overloading its shields before the platform started to take critical damage. The gunfight had not gone unnoticed, as the remaining patrols started to move towards his position.

He let them approach, taking cover within one of the makeshift buildings on the area before taking a detonator out. The explosion engulfed most of the enemy patrols, outright incinerating them to a crisp. For a few of them, only their shadows, burned to a wall or the floor, was left. The surviving ones were recovering from the explosion, a ringing like sound in their ears disorienting them momentarily before Khato's fire made them recover. With most of their shields overloaded by the explosion, Khato's aim was true, even when the survivors started to scatter. He managed to down a pair of Sangheilis, one Geth unit and an unfortunate Unggoy who had been too slow to get behind cover before fire started to come in his direction.

Looking outside the building, Khato opened fire at one of the Jiralhanae that was out of cover, only for him to take cover as his shields started to deplete. The sound of a beam rifle shot was then heard, just as the same Jiralhanae fell to the ground in a pool of blood, a hole in his head.

"You got two hostiles coming over through the east entrance." Cet told him as Vengeance's followers started to set up multiple deployable covers to protect themselves from the sniper fire.

Acknowledging the piece of information, Khato turned to aim at said door just as a plasma grenade landed a little bit in front and to the side of his position. Khato grunted in annoyance just as he started to move. From the outside, an explosion was seen, alongside some snow cloud lifted by said explosion.

 **January 16, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar;** **Reincarnation System,** ** _Arcturus_** **Station.**

"Any idea as to how they managed to bypass most of our security?" Admiral Hackett asked in a reprimanding tone. The look in his eyes clearly stating disappointment with the Major on the line.

Major Adler had contacted Hackett a couple of minutes ago to inform him of what had transpired hours prior, as he was his direct superior on the system. For her part, she kept her composure as she responded, "We are currently investigating how it was that they entered the system undetected. As for…"

Hackett raised a hand, signaling her to stop. Sighting to calm himself, he said. "I'm aware of the details of the physical infiltration, as stated on your report. However, I was referring as to how they managed to hack into our systems."

Adler stayed quiet after that, not sure herself of how that happened, and thinking on how to answer the question. Hackett for his part, saw right through her, seeing that she had no answer. In retrospective, it wasn't her fault, as she was more than likely preoccupied in securing the base and capturing the infiltrators.

"I'll be arriving to the system in a week. By then, I want a detailed report on what happened and what measures have been taken to prevent this from ever happening again." Hackett said in a neutral tone.

The Major saluted as she responded, "Sir."

The line was disconnected after that, with Hackett turning at the other occupant in the room, coincidentally, the one that he was delivering a report from one of his unofficial assignments. While his ship was supposed to be alongside the fast response fleet assigned to the recently infiltrated system, it had been called a couple of days ago to Arcturus to undergo some retrofits. It was not within standard procedure, but it was required due to some of his assignments.

Before Hackett could say anything, The Illusive Man (TIM) said, "It seems like they are getting bolder." He paused as he took a drag from his cigarette. "Then again, this might turn out to be a good thing in the long run."

Hackett raised an eyebrow at that, confusion clearly on his expression. "How is this a 'good thing' exactly?"

"I'm afraid that that is above your clearance level Admiral. But suffice to say, that they obtaining schematics in energy shielding does not pose a threat to us. By the time they have them working on ships, or even on their troops, we'll already have better models or found a way to make it insignificant."

Hackett wanted to roll his eyes at the answer but kept his composure out of respect. _"ONI spooks, even under a different name and leadership, they still act the same. Then again, we hardly have any solid proof that it was them."_

"For the moment, don't worry about it. Just focus on making sure that it doesn't happen a second time. I'll personally deliver the report to the higher-ups." TIM continued, "As for your other assignment, any more information that you would like to share?"

"I'm assuming that this 'good thing' that you are talking about is related to something classified then?" Hackett asked. Seeing the nod from TIM, he send the full report to him. "I'll send the more detailed one in a week then. As for the other assignment, we haven't seen any changes so far in the relay network. Though, it would be helpful if we knew what exactly it is that we are looking for."

TIM looked at Hackett for a moment before nodding to himself, "The data that you are sending me, is being compared to that of the Omega Relay. I can't say more, at least, not at the moment. In that note, this will be all Admiral."

The line disconnected after that, with Hackett murmuring about classified bullshit. "I miss the simplicity that was war." He said to himself as he made his way to one of the many bars within the station. He had some free time after all, and after this conversation, he needed a drink to take his mind off of things.

 **Kamchatka. Approximately 1 kilometer from AA-guns emplacement. 15 minutes before AA's takedown.**

"Noted. We'll start our diversion; proceed as planned." Faha 'Tanam, a Sangheili Ultra, said over the radio as he ended the transmission. Looking over at a squad of Unggoy equipped with fuel rod canons and plasma launchers, he gave them the signal to fire.

The incendiary gel rounds from the fuel rod canons, alongside the multiple grenades launched from the plasma launchers, traveled the length of the field towards their unsuspecting enemies. Two of the wraith tanks that were stationed outside the complex, exploded in flames as some of the complex's turrets were destroyed in the subsequent explosions. The Unggoys kept firing, providing covering fire for the rest of the troops to move on ahead. In response, Geth units targeted the assailants, their AI minds easily making the necessary adjustments to take down the unshielded enemies. The Unggoys fell to the assault, one of them firing the fuel rod at his companion as he was killed by the AI.

Up in the front, Faha took cover in one of the rocks, his plasma repeater at hand as he typed a few commands on his wrist computer. A hundred meters away from their initial position, a pair of blisterbacks let their payloads fly at the enemy position. The multiple missiles striking down the trenched troops and destroying the remaining wraiths.

"Delta squad, move on ahead." Faha started to order, "Bravo!, see if you can flank those turrets." He stopped as he fired at a Jiralhanae that had entered into a blood rage like state. With the treat down, he looked at a pair of Kig-Yar snipers. "You two, take down those enemy snipers."

As he gave his orders, a second munition of missiles came down from the two blisterbacks, their payloads further weakening the enemy positions. Just as the assaulting forced moved uphill, a pair of Banshees arrived to oversee the ongoing battle. Circling around the battlefield for a bit, the banshees dived downwards. Plasma fire rained down on Jul's forces as they scrambled for cover, some managing to make it to cover, others, weren't so lucky. Some brave soldiers decided to use their shields as cover to try and get out an EMP shot form their plasma pistols at the banshees. Though they regretted the move soon after, as the turrets of the complex took them down.

Faha looked at the cowering Unggoy next to him. He scowled in irritation before kicking him to make him move. Taking the plasma launcher from said Unggoy, he took aim at the banshees. Once he had a lock on, he let a volley of four grenades fly. They stuck to their intended target, blowing it to pieces seconds after. Repeating the action on the second banshee, Faha returned the weapon to the Unggoy, ordering him to move on ahead and provide covering fire.

As Faha advanced alongside his assault force, he fired his repeater towards a Geth, switching targets soon after and taking down a couple of Unggoys and another Sangheili. The blisterbacks in the back had finally taken down most of the complex's turrets, making their advance all the easier. A tremor briefly assaulted the mountain that they were on, snow and ice chunks falling in the distance as a couple of fireballs made themselves known. Faha made the equivalent of a smile before activating his energy sword, the repeater on the other hand.

"Advance brothers, for this fight is ours!"

As if fueled by his words, Jul's forces moved on ahead with such ferocity that took the defenders slightly off guard. Off in the distance, multiple chains of explosions could be seen to the east and west. Seconds after, hundreds of dropships, fighters and even a couple of corvettes descended into the atmosphere. The banshees and seraphs quickly taking air superiority with help from the corvettes, while the other transports dropped troops to reinforce positions. A pair of Phantoms made their way towards Faha's position, mowing down whatever resistance there was left.

* * *

Khato found himself under a pile of rubble, the ringing within his head not helping any. Trying to stand, he found that there was something heavy on top of him. He could barely hear the screams of someone nearby before his vision adjusted to the lighting. Plasma fired flied above him, impacting someone's energy shields as they fired a carbine at the assailants.

"Khato!" He heard Cet said. "Stand up already, we have to move." He said as he killed a Geth stalker that had gotten too close.

Grunting in displeasure, Khato moved the piece of rubble off of him before moving towards a wall to take cover. Checking his status via the HUD, he saw that his armor's systems were alerting him of multiple second degree burns on his body. _"Nothing broken then."_ He thought as he pulled out a gun. Having lost his storm rifle on the explosion, he pulled out a plasma pistol and started to fire on the approaching assailants. The firefight didn't last long, as a couple of minutes into the engagement, a pair of phantoms arrived, killing the remaining of Vengeance's followers on the area.

With the complex under their control, phantoms started to arrive to pick the troops up and move on ahead.

"That was careless of you." Cet commented as he and Khato boarded one of the phantoms.

"It will not happen again. I thought that you had me covered." He responded as the phantom started to take off, the motion slightly making him lose his balance, though he recovered fast enough.

"Hard to do so when half the population shoots at you." The response had come with no emotion attached to it, almost as if it was merely an observation. "I trust that your injuries will not get in the way?"

The concern could be noticed in the question, if you knew what to look for. Khato picked up on this, "They will not..." He started to say just as the phantom shook violently.

"Kraken!" The pilot said over the intercom, "Everyone, prepare for impact."

The Kraken had taken the assault force by surprise, having stayed immobile close to the main temple to appear as nothing more than extra fortifications around the mountain. The snow and ice covering it was broken from its peace as it fell to the plateau kilometers bellow one the Kraken started to move. Furthermore, the sudden movement of the floating fortress had caused an avalanche to occur on one of the mountain sides.

Having seen the kraken move and take down a couple of Phantom and Spirit transports, the remaining drop-ships took evasive maneuvers to avoid the incoming fire. The magnitude of turret fire coming their way making it almost impossible for the drop-ship to pass by unscathed. They were forced to land further back from their intended destination. The kraken for its part, stayed close to the temple, knowing that the assailants would not risk orbital bombardment with such important structure close by.

Meanwhile, Cet prepared himself for the incoming impact, the phantom's thrusters had failed due to the damage it had sustained. The barrage of fire that it had taken from the Kraken's multiple turrets had peeled off sections of the armor and damaged the systems. At most, the pilot could only guide the falling ship to land as smoothly as a crash land could be. Seconds after, they crash-landed a couple of kilometers from their intended objective, the snow managing to smoot the landing a bit due to the angle of their fall.

Stumbling out of the crashed Phantom, Cet held his carbine high, surveying their surroundings before relaxing, "How many did we lost?" He said.

"Pilot's dead." Khato responded as he picked up a nearby plasma rifle.

"Xit and Okan are dead. The rest of us are good to go." A Sangheili said as he moved outside.

Acknowledging the report, Cet marked the site of the crash before taking command the survivors. There were two Sangheilis and a single Kig-Yar. The remaining passengers being either dead or MIA.

"Listen." Cet said as a small explosion occurred within the remains, "We still have a temple to take and that Kraken isn't going to make things easier. Our priority is to regroup with the surviving assault teams and then take that temple by any means. Understood?"

A chorus of confirmations was his response, and just as they had been trained, the group started to move. It wouldn't even be five minutes when the sound barrier was broken.

* * *

Close to the kraken, a pair of scarabs emerged from the snow clouds that their landing had lifted. Seconds after, they opened fire on the kraken. Banshees started to fly out of the kraken's hangars just as seraphs and banshees came from orbit, meanwhile its complement of shade turrets fired at the scarabs. A moot point as the scarabs retreated outside of the kraken's arms and shade turret's range. The banshees attempted to immobilize both scarabs by shooting at their legs, a difficult task due to the efforts of their counterparts defending said scarabs.

The battle raged on, with the kraken's armor being peeled off almost instantly by the energy projector like weapon that the scarabs had. As the third charged shot came, the kraken started to rotate in an effort to buy itself some time to come in for the kill, as a result, multiple shade turrets and onboard personnel were melted instantly by the scarab's gun.

The dogfights occurring above the scarabs had started to intensify, as more of Vengeance's followers arrived to provide support. The relentless assault had finally caused enough damage to one of the scarabs, making it unable to move or shoot its main canon. The Kraken capitalized on this, closing the distance as fast as its engines would let it. Within seconds, the scarabs was within range of the kraken's appendages. Two of said appendages, grabbed the scarab, effectively separating it in two before throwing them at the second scarab. Having seen one of the scarabs go down, the banshees swarmed the kraken air space, shooting at its limbs before it could launch its second makeshift projectile. The tactic worked, if only for one of the limbs, the second one had managed to throw the remains of the scarab at its companion.

The occupants within the scarab had started to quickly divert all power to the energy shield dome that appeared around their vehicle. At the same time, they moved the platform in an attempt to prevent their destruction. The tactic had worked, if slightly. The size and speed at which the makeshift projectile had come, made the energy shield almost totally ineffective, though it had served to slightly alter the trajectory of said projectile. The change in trajectory had caused the scarab to lose its back anti-air canon and expose its core to the air units above it.

Vengance's followers capitalized on this, quickly trying to target the exposed core as the scarab fired once again on the kraken. With the overwhelming air presence around the scarab, enough shots had managed to hit its reactor before the platform entered into its critical state. The air units started to retreat from the would be destroyed scarab, though the dogfights seemed to only intensify even more. Within all the chaos, multiple phantoms had managed to bypass the kraken's defenses, deploying multiple troops on the landing pads just as the second scarab exploded.

Faha jumped off from the phantom, his energy sword active as he killed a few Geth units and a couple of Unggoys that were close by. Letting his energy shields take most of the enemy fire, while the phantom's turrets mowed down most of the attackers, Faha came relatively unscathed from his assault. He started to move within the floating fortress, his energy sword deactivated as he held a storm rifle at hand. A pair of Sangheili rangers accompanied him within, killing any of the surviving crew on their way to the reactor room. Passing through one of the destroyed walls, Faha could barely make out the groundside battle in front of the temple's entrance. Taking a corner, one of the ranges immediately rolled to the side as a stream of plasma came his way.

"Hunter!" The ranger said as he took cover. "I'll draw its fire."

Not arguing with the ranger, both, Faha and the second ranger, concentrated fire on the hunter's unarmored parts. The action drawing the hunter's attention to them, the lone ranger took his chance, sticking a plasma grenade at the unarmored part before taking cover once again. Three seconds later, the explosion of the grenade had sent a goo like substance throughout the room.

"Not bad." Faha said as he stepped on one of the many lekgolo scattered. "Let's move, the core isn't far from here."

The three specialists descended more into the fortress, arriving at the core room within minutes. Nodding at each other, the three of them took aim and fired. It took a couple of seconds for the three of them to finally destabilize the core with their guns, but once the alarms started sounding, they moved back to the surface. Explosions started to take place around them on their way back. Systems failed around the platform until it started to fall. Arriving back to the surface, they spotted their phantom still there. Wasting no time in boarding it, the phantom took off, back towards the temple's entrance as the kraken finally exploded a few meters above the mountain base.

Khato and Cet took cover behind some rocks as plasma fire came their way. They were close to the temple now and could clearly see the main battle ranging on to their right. It had taken them close to an hour to get there, but the increase in enemy contacts had told them that they were heading in the right direction. The Kig-Yar was currently on an upper path to their left, providing covering fire with his carbine, the other two Sangheili were further up the pathway, one of them using a concussion rifle to great effect. The concussive shots forcing some of their enemies to step out of cover, something that the Kig-Yar quickly capitalized on.

Shooting with his own carbine, Cet moved onwards, closer to the other two Sangheili before providing covering fire for Khato to move up as well. Seeing a needler close to him, Cet took it before firing it at a Jiralhanae that had stepped out of cover. The needler's fire struck home, killing the Jiralhanae and taking down the shields of a Sangheili with the following explosion. Plasma rifle fire finished off said Sangheili before the firefight ended. Taking a few seconds to recover, the five of them moved on.

"There goes the second scarab." One of the Sangheili commented with a grunt of displeasure.

The explosion had been heard all the way up to their position, non-the less, they kept onward. With the sound of the battle increasing, they started to move more cautiously, the sound of a turret firing getting closer and closer. Rounding some rock pillars, they finally found the turret emplacements. There were three turrets, alongside a couple of sniper on a small hill overlooking the temple's front yard. Looking at said yard, they could see a couple of specters and wraiths firing on Jul's followers, a Geth colossus could also be seen amongst the wraith tanks. Taking aim and calling their targets, the five of them opened fire on the four snipers and a single turret. The five targets dropping dead as one of the turrets changed its aim and fired on their position.

The plasma onslaught started to melt through what little cover they had, that is, until the turret overheated. Taking the chance, Cet and the Kig-Yar fired with their carbines at the operator, while the other three Sangheili targeted the remaining turret. With both Unggoys dealt with, they took over the turrets, turning the fire towards Vengeance's followers. With the lift of pressure from them, Jul's assault force started to slowly gain ground, the kraken starting fall off in the dinstance giving them a bust in moral. On the specters laid in flames, having been destroyed by the turrets, while two of the wraiths laid in a similar state. It was the colossus that had started to fire on the turrets, its shot killing one of the Sangheili as he wasn't fast enough to dodge.

It was then that a pair of phantoms arrived, their turrets targeting the bigger threats as they deployed more troops. Seconds after, a three spirit transports also arrived. Opening their side doors, Jul M'Dama stepped out of the transport, his storm rifle at the ready as he killed the last of the defenders on the outside.

He stepped in front of the temple's entrance, before turning around to address his troops. "Vengeances reign of lies ends today! Today, we will show the remnants of his followers that they made an error by following that treacherous snake. Today, our covenant will return to its former glory! For the Covenant!" He ended as he activated his energy sword and moved inside, the troops behind him repeating his last words before following him inside.

The defenders inside had been slightly off guard, having used most of their defenses on the outside of the temple, not once thinking that the enemy would reach inside. It was an error that they paid in blood. Jul, Cet and Khato had made sure of that, the three of them working in such a way that never left one of them exposed. Firing his storm rifle, Jul stopped momentarily, letting the weapon cool down as Cet took over with his carbine. Priming a plasma grenade, Jul threw it behind some makeshift cover as the troops behind him provided suppressive fire. The following explosion killing the defenders and destroying said cover. The survivors would be then taken apart by the wall of incoming fire.

Reaching the entrance to an open room, turret fired greeted them, cutting down some of their forces before they were able to deploy their portable shields, giving the rest of the forces the opportunity to enter the room and neutralize the turrets. Once the room was theirs, Jul moved calmly to the only remaining room on the floor, with his victory assured, he let some of his ego show, though he was still alert and ready for any possible attacks. The Forerunner door finally opened, letting him through to see a Jiralhanae chieftain alongside two others.

Jul activated his energy sword, giving the chieftain the chance to face him with honor. Even though he already had control of the covenant, a show of his skill would only help him in the long run. However, the Jiralhanae had other ideas as he commanded his security detail to attack the intruders. The ensuring firefight killed the two unshielded Jiralhanae accompanying the chieftain, while Jul's shields absorbed the damage as he closed in on his prey. In turn, the chieftain pulled out a spiker, firing at Jul. Using his sword to cover most of his vital areas, the rounds were deflected by the sword or his shields as he closed in. Seeing that he was causing no apparent damage, the chieftain went for his own energy sword, only to stop midway before looking down. The firefight had stopped, with Jul's forces having killed the defenders, and in the center, Jul's sword pierced the chieftain before it was brusquely pulled out.

Jul turned around as the body fell, dead, on the ground as blood started to come out. Moving closer to the main terminal in the room, he sent the enemy positions to his ships, within hours the fight would be over, and Kamchatka would once again be under Covenant control.

 **January 18, 2173, Citadel Council Calendar; Serpent Nebula, Widow System,** ** _Citadel_** **Station, Citadel Tower, Private Room.**

The council tower had finally finished reparations, the workers managing to restore it to its former glory and giving it a few upgrades as well. One of said upgrades being faster elevators after receiving many complains from the citizens around the station. It was within the restored tower that the three councilors were have a meeting.

"We need to do something about this." Councilor Sparatus said, "The increase of the Alliance and their allies' military presence within the terminus is only destabilizing the status quo. Before long, we'll have a pirate war on our hands."

"Be as it may, we there's nothing that we can do without increasing tensions." Tevos countered, with Valern nodding in agreement, "you know as well as I do, that if we send ships over there then things will only get worse. We can't even do anything politically as this is a Terminus-Alliance issue that does not involve us."

Sparatus sighted in resignation, "I know." He said, "However, that doesn't stop us from increasing patrols on our borders. Pirates are taking the chance to raid our worlds. Besides, we can spare more ships in there, with one of the Alliance fleets as well as ours protecting the Citadel, we wouldn't be weakening our defenses."

The mention of the Alliance fleet on the system brought a slight frown in Tevos and Valern's faces. The time for said fleet to leave would come soon, as the Citadel fleet was almost completely recovered from the fight of the Citadel as historians called it now days. And while the Alliance had complied with their conditions when they stationed a temporary fleet on the system, they knew that they had taken the chance to obtain as much information as they could form them. Not that they hadn't done the same.

"For the moment," Valern said, returning them from their thoughts, "we can do as Sparatus suggests. Though I recommend to also talk with the Alliance in regard to this. Perhaps we can reason with them or help them get whatever they are doing in the terminus be done faster if it's to our convenience." The other two councilors nodded in agreement at the suggestion.

"With that ordeal out of the way, I have news." Valern said as he sent them a report to their omni-tools. "The STG team was slightly successful in their mission."

"Slightly?" Tevos said with a raised eyebrow.

"The information that they managed to recover, it seems that one of the bases' AIs managed to sneak in a virus before the transmission was cut. We recovered what we could, but the scientists assure me that they can still work with what thy got."

"Any possibilities of them tracking down the operation to us?" Sparatus asked.

"None. They probably suspect us, but there's no legitimate proof of the operation." Valern responded, proud of his species achievement against their newest foe. "Though, I would recommend strengthening the defenses in all important installations that we have. The Alliance might not be able to start a war or even accuse us of this, but their intelligence agencies could surely launch an attack on one of our military bases."

Tevos and Sparatus nodded at that, though they showed not much concern in the matter. They had already informed key personnel of their respective species'.

"Any idea on when we can implement this shielding technology?" Sparatus asked as he skimmed through the report.

"With the Quarians' help," Valern started, "I'll give it a few months for personal energy shields. It'll take a couple more to distribute the technology to all our troops. As for ship shielding, well, that could take years. We are working with an entirely different technological culture after all. And the Alliance's ships are proof that they don't slightly get along with eezo technology."

The other two nodded at that. The discussion continued in a similar manner, switching to two other topics before they wrapped up the private meeting. Tevos had a meeting with a Quarian ambassador, while the other two had other duties to attend to. All in all, it had been a good day for the three councilors.

 **A/N: As you probably noticed, I'm not particularly good at writing action scenes. I literally rewrote most of the second half of the chapter more than once trying to come with something satisfactory, so any feedback from you (readers) would be really appreciated. Even if you just not the bad points or straight out flame it, it will help for future chapters. If you have any particular suggestions and don't want to share them on the Review section, feel free to PM them to me. Thank You.**


	6. An Ancient Secret (Part 1 of 2)

**The Next Great Journey: Awakening**

 **DISCLAIMERS: I don't own any Halo or Mass Effect products; they belong to their respective owners.**

 **Beta Reader:** **l3loodKnight**

 **Warning! There are some graphic descriptions in this chapter. They are few (around 2 or 3) but I thought I ought to warn you just in case.**

Chapter 6: An Ancient Secret (Part 1 of 2)

 **February 9** **, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar; Omega Nebula, Batalla System, Orbit of Logasiri.**

A lone, arrow like, pitch black ship floated on the dark side of the planet. The planet's dark surface color making the small ship almost invisible to the naked eye. The ship was a modified Condor, equipped with a slip-space drive, unlike its assault counterpart. Activating its thrusters, the ship descended into the planet's atmosphere.

The ship's autopilot guided the Condor through the rocky planet, passing overhead a small river before arriving at its intended coordinates. Up ahead, multiple clouds were gathering together, the first signs of an oncoming storm. Crossing through the wall of clouds, the landing site became visible. It was within some rock formations, providing necessary cover from any unwanted eyes, and it was far enough from any artificial settlement to not alert the local sensors.

"Are you sure that we can trust them?" Miranda asked as she took an M-15 Vindicator, programming it with concussive rounds. Similarly, she also took an M-9 Tempest SMG.

Due to the nature of the operation, and how expensive and problematic would it be to manufacture non-lethal ammunition for multiple species, both operatives had opted to take mass accelerator weapons that could be loaded with the less lethal ammunition currently available in the galaxy. It wouldn't mean that they couldn't kill the target, but a few well-placed shots would neutralize most, if not all the encountered targets.

"No" Kai Leng responded, taking the same loadout as Miranda, "but they seemed desperate for help in their transmission. Besides, they contacted CERBERUS directly."

The lights within the Condor turned red just as the cabin started to depressurize.

"Remember, we are here for the artifact and nothing else." Leng said as he put on his helmet, the piece of hardware synchronizing with the phantom exo-suit. To his side, Miranda did the same.

The Condor's ramp opened, giving them a view of the night sky on the planet, and the two Batarians standing in front of them, waiting.

"Good to know that the Hegemony's allies deliver on their promises." One of the Batarians said. It was easy for the Hegemony to see through the veil that the Alliance had cast, after all, they had been doing the same for centuries.

"Dracor Dhed'rolok. Follow me," The same Batarian said in greeting, "I'll give you the details once we are on top."

"Any particular reason why you decided to contact CERBERUS specifically for this?" Miranda asked as they followed the two Batarians. It was something that she was curious about and figured that it wouldn't hurt to ask. To her side, Kai Leng typed a few commands on his wrist computer, locking down the Condor to prevent it from being stolen.

The Batarian in question kept walking in the same direction as he answered. "Hegemony orders. Our initial job was to retrieve the artifact. Don't ask, I have no idea what that thing is. Anyways, we were to retrieve the artifact and then arrange for transportation into an Alliance facility. Think of it as a token of appreciation for the Skyllian Verge."

"You mean that your scientists don't know what to do with it and hope that our AIs can decipher the artifact." Leng said as he followed them.

Before Dracor could answer, Miranda pressed on, "Be that as it may, it doesn't explain why you contacted us instead of the Alliance directly."

"We had…complications." The Batarian answered with a sigh. "Before we set to retrieve the artifact, we lost contact with the installation holding it. Once we got here, well, look for yourself." He said as they arrived at the top of the small mountain.

There was a small camp, with multiple tents and another three Batarians, two of them in sniper perches overlooking something on the opposing direction from which the Condor had come. To the side of the camp, a shuttle was parked with a few camouflaged covers to hide it from sight. Inside of the tents were sleeping arrangements and what seemed to be like supplies. One of them housed a holographic table, displaying a map of a town, as well as, some images of the area.

Approaching said tent, both CERBERUS operatives noted the pictures of multiple armed individuals, there being Batarians, Turians, Asari and even a few Salarians.

"Reinforcements finally arrived?" The Batarian at the table said. "Idrato Paskark." He said greeting them in the usual Batarian way. "You don't seem like much."

"We are the advanced team, once we give the signal, the recovery teams will come down to retrieve the artifact." Leng said as he saw the incredulous look on the Batarian banish.

"Good. The sooner that thing is off this rock, the better."

"Any changes?" Dracor asked.

"None. Slavers and slaves keep guarding the installation as if it where their only purpose on life. Further scans on the area have revealed that the further radially afar from the building we are, the more normal things seem to be."

Leng raised an eyebrow, though it was unseen due to his helmet, "Normal?"

"Yes. You know, slaves being worked to the bone, slavers making sure to keep them in order, the occasional fight here and there. But even so, it all seems like a front." Idrato answered before zooming into another area of the map, "And then there's this. In the past few days, we've seen a few pirate ships land. Locals take them within the mines and once they come out, well, it's like they have become part of the hive or something."

A few images of said pirates exiting the mine were shown, the few that had no helmet, were seen with a lost, almost dreamy like look on their expressions. Miranda and Kai exchanged looks, having a suspicion as to what could be the cause.

"It's possible that the artifact is responsible for this," Kai spoke, "but I'm unsure. The other similar cases that we have seen ended up with the victims being transformed into an almost cybernetical state. That and, in none of those cases, the victims bothered to put up appearances as they seem to be doing here."

"I see. Chances are that all of the residents are infected by whatever it is that's causing this." Idrato said, as the other three remaining Batarians joined them, "I suggest that we proceed with that assumption or we might end up like those pirates." He continued as he pointed at the footage of the pirate drop-ship.

Dracor nodded at that before saying. "In any case, I got us an entrance. We'll still have to cross through part of the town, but if we can make it into the sewers, we will be able to enter the lab through one of its disposal shutters."

"And you know this how?" Idrato asked, looking annoyed at the fact that his fellow mercenary had hidden information about their job.

"Hegemony orders." Was all he said, "There's something more." He continued as he pulled some devices from one of his armor's pockets. "Install this in your helmets, it'll protect you from any outside signals."

"Hegemony orders" Idrato said more than asked, his annoyance increasing. Dracor just nodded before putting his on his helmet, the rest, following the action.

"He's hiding something." Miranda said through a private channel to Leng.

"Indeed." Leng responded as he installed the device. "Keep an eye on him. This might be some sort of trap."

Once the VI in their suits finished analyzing the newly installed device, and marking it clean, their HUD systems showed a small green signal on the top left corner.

With everything set, the mercenaries plus CERBERUS operatives started to move, rappelling down the side of the mountain facing the town, they made use of the night to cover their advance. Reaching the ground, the makeshift team boarded a MAKO vehicle that the Batarians had left there a few days prior. The sound of the engine being the only noticeable thing of vehicle as they made their approach.

"Remember, no lethal takedowns unless its unavoidable on this operation." Dracor said, as he programmed his guns with concussion ammo.

"Huh, you are taking the fun out of this." One of the Batarians said.

"Do you want to deal with the Hegemony then?" Dracor asked annoyed. At that, the Batarian quieted down, grumbling to himself about stupid contracts. The rest of the team members ignored him, some of them checking their guns, except for the driver.

The vehicle made its way through the rocky terrain as rain started to pour down, a light breeze that was slowly picking up in momentum. After a few minutes, the vehicle arrived at the town's checkpoint. There were three guards outside, with two more standing guards in two adjacent towers. At one of the guard's signals, the conductor stepped out of the vehicle.

"What's your business here traveler?" The Batarian asked with narrowed eyes.

"Material's delivery." He simply answered as he looked at the guards in the towers, his attention returning to the one in front of him as he spoke.

"There isn't any scheduled for today."

"Oh? No, it's not that kind of material, if you know what I mean." The conductor said, smirking to himself.

The guards' eyes looked at the vehicle before moving to check inside, the conductor following them. Opening the back door, he was met with six barrels aiming at him and his two companions. Silenced shots rang out and the three guards fell down, unconscious. Fire rained down on them from the guards in the towers before they were silenced by the two CERBERUS agents. Their bodies fell limp, with one of them falling down from the tower, breaking his neck from the impact on the ground.

"Well, that wasn't subtle at all." Miranda commented dryly.

Dracor rolled a pair of his eyes before saying, "Let's hurry, we have a few minutes before they send someone to investigate. The sewers' entrance is this way, follow me."

The team of seven made a dash within the town, taking a left on a nearby alley just as two vehicles arrived at the scene. The vehicle left abandoned to give them an extra few minutes. The lights on the town had increased, as a sense of alert had settled on the residents. Moving swiftly to their destination, the team had to take down two patrols and a couple of slaves before they could alert anyone else of their location.

"I can hardly see a distinction between slave and slaver anymore." One of the Batarians said as he passed by the unconscious body of an Asari slave. She had been patrolling the area alongside another group of Batarians, these ones clearly being the slavers due to their gear.

The concussion rounds had worked wonders, neutralizing targets one by one, though mostly due to the pain of having broken bones or just passing out by the force of the impact. Thought he sounds of the firefight had certainly drawn the attention of anyone else nearby. Moving on, they arrived at their destination with little to no trouble after their last skirmish. They started to descend into the sewer tunnels just as fog started to accumulate on the town's streets.

Dracor turned on his helmet's flashlight as he hit the ground, the sound of running water being heard nearby as well as the dripping of water from the ceiling. Five other flashlights were turned on before the group started to move, the CERBERUS agents activating the night vision incorporated in their phantom armor helmet. None noticed a single sphere pulsating with dark blue light behind them. Within their helmets, the frequency detector turned red but for a second before returning once more to a green status.

They moved in silence through the tunnels, occasionally hearing a vehicle in the surface pass on top of them. Rodents ran in one direction or another, seemingly without a destination in mind, though the group did notice that some of them where covered in blood. Taking a left, Dracor guided towards a sealed door that had **"Authorized personnel only"** message on its surface, an ID card reader was next to it. Dracor produced one such ID before passing it through the scanner. Some of the others wanted to comment on it, though their mind forgot about it once they saw what was behind the door.

Multiple bodies littered the ground as rodents feasted on their remains, some having made nests within the bellies of their food source. The adjacent walls covered in blood, while some small balls with pulsating energy within them, lay around the room.

"Think the ones outside did it?" Idrato asked as he looked at one of the many spheres on the ground, "And what are these things?"

"If they did, then it seems like they have succumbed to some form of madness." Leng responded as he pointed at the mutilated bodies of the Batarians. One of such bodies had multiple cuts along his body, clearly caused by a bladed weapon. A few of his fingers where missing along one of his eyes. Blood was sprayed all around the surrounding of the body, and, what appeared to be a machete was embedded into his torso. Leng stepped to the side as rodents seemed to have made their home within the body, one of such exiting from one of the openings in the Batarian's stomach. Idrato turned to look at what Leng was pointing out, only to turn back around just as quickly, the sensation of vomiting making itself present. He turned back to the sphere, doing some quick scans with his omni-tool.

"Common, let's" Dracor started before stopping mid-sentence, his eyes transfixed in one of the Batarians on the ground, female by the looks of it. _"What the?!"_ He thought as he shook his head, he could have sworn that the eyes had moved as if following him. Slightly disturbed, he moved on through the room. "Let's move, I don't want to be here more than necessary."

The others silently agreed with him, none wanted to be among the carnage of the room. When they arrived at the other side of the room, they found another body, this one sitting next to the blood sprayed door. His wounds were minimal, compared to the bodies from before, though they were clearly self-inflicted. A message, written in his blood, was to the right of the body. **"the old oneS arE cOMing. BEwaRe!"** it said.

"Are you recording all of this?" Leng asked Miranda through a private channel.

She simply nodded as she passed him by, the sight from before making her feel sick. Things on the next room seemed to improve, though the team was already on edge. Some of the mercenaries had already switched to standard ammunition, deciding that a more aggressive plan of attack was needed after the sight from before. They entered to a processing room of sorts, the sound of machinery clearly heard throughout the floor as giant tanks processed water for the settlement above. Dracor explained as much, that the base was also a water filtration plant that sustained the settlement. Naturally, they had expected to encounter some sort of personnel inside, monitoring the processing process. They only found silence, the only sound being the machinery already mentioned.

They moved, past the tanks full of water, not noticing the dead body coming into view within one of the tanks. The dark-greenish skin making it clear that it had been there for at least a few days. Its four eyes opened, seeing as the intruders exited the room. The door closed behind them as they entered a dark corridor, its light systems malfunctioning, if the flickering lights were any indication.

"This place is giving me a bad feeling," Grelo said, "shouldn't there be at least a skeleton crew in here?" he asked.

"With what has been happening in the past few days on here, I wouldn't be surprised if this place was empty. Makes our job easier if that's the case." Idrato responded, grumbling the last part to himself.

"Quiet. I hear something." Leng said, his Vindicator rifle aiming at a side corridor. Two more aimed their guns in the same direction, while the rest covered their other sides. Soon enough, they could see the silhouette of someone approaching. It was one of the researchers, if his attire was anything to go by. The researcher kept walking, approaching them, while muttering to himself, he carried a pile of the spheres with blue energy with him.

"I gotta deliver these. He'll punish us if I don't." The researcher kept mumbling to himself as he passed by the group of seven, seemingly without noticing them.

"Hey!" Dracor said, his gun trained on the researcher.

Startled, the researcher turned to look at them, dropping the spheres to the floor. "huh?" He said, as if in a daze.

"What happened here?" Dracor demanded.

The researcher started at him, as if lost in thought before a distraught expression came to his face. Alarmed, the researcher went to the floor, picking the spheres while mumbling incoherently to himself.

"Hey!" Dracor said, his temper getting the better of him, "I said…" He didn't finish, as the researcher lunged at him when Dracor tried to turn him around.

With a surprising surge of strength, the researcher managed to bring Dracor down to the floor, his weapon flying off his hands as he tried to get the researcher off of him. Just as he had found suddenly with the researcher on top of him, it suddenly was taken off of him. Grelo had sprung into action, kicking the attacker off of his companion while the other three Batarians gunned him down. Leng and Miranda watched the scene, while also looking at the corridors, expecting some kind of assault after the commotion.

The researcher's body trashed on the floor, as the concussion and standard rounds of Vindicators hit his unprotected body. Before long, the researcher was dead. Multiple holes adorning his body as blood flowed freely from his wounds.

"You alright?" Idrato asked as he helped Dracor up.

"Kra'tash" Dracor cursed, while looking at the body. "Come on, let's move. The stairs are this way. I don't trust the elevators to work." He said as he started to march off, his recovered rifle in hand.

"What was that?" Grelo asked, his surprise evident at the turn of events.

"Hell if I know. I'm telling you, this place is giving me the creeps."

"Umm guys," Grelo said calling for the rest attention as they started to move into another corridor. "The body isn't were we left it."

The rest stopped on their tracks, looking at in the direction in which the body was supposed to be. Using their helmets' flashlights, they sure enough only found the pool of blood, with no body close by.

"Come on. The sooner we are done here, the better." None argued with that, moving on ahead through the dark corridor.

It didn't took Dracor long to guide them to the stairs, as it was close by from where they had stopped last. Taking the staircase down four levels, they realized that the lower levels were without electricity. The Mercenaries took the front, using their flashlight to light the way, while the two CERBERUS operatives stayed on the back, using their night vision to help cover their rear and flanks. Finally arriving at their intended floor, Dracor went to open the door, only to find out that it had been locked from the other side.

"Great. Just what we needed in this hellhole." He said as his attempt to override the lock failed, "We'll have to go down two levels and then take the staircase on the other side of the lab. Hopefully the other door isn't locked."

"And if it is?" Leng asked.

"We'll have to go through the service elevator shaft." With that said, they moved down two more levels.

Moving down, they started to notice some irregularities on the way. The most obvious being the damage to the walls, some looking as if an object had impacted the wall, leaving dents on it, others seemed as if something had tried to cut the wall. The signs become more apparent once they reached the final floor of the lab, only a single corridor marking the way for them to follow. Pipes ran along the walls, carrying water or other liquids within them. They moved without a word, following the service corridor that was the floor in which they were. That is, until they started to hear their footsteps going through water. Looking down, they saw that the corridor flooded with what appeared to be water. A distant sound in the corridor indicating that one of the pipes was broken and spilling its contents on the floor.

They kept moving forward, taking a few turns until they saw the broken pipe. Sure enough, it was pouring down the water that it carried within it. Leaking from the ceiling could also be seen, though the dark corridor made it difficult to point out what it was. Grelo moved on ahead, stopping once to clean his visor from the leaking. The rest passed by him, as he told them that it would only take him a few seconds. Managing to clean his visor, he noticed his armored hand covered in some sort of dark substance. He used his flashlight to identify what it was before looking up, at the source of the leaking. He could only stand in horror as he noticed something looking at him.

The sound of gunfire, accompanied with a scream, was heard by the rest. "Grelo!" The Batarians yelled, sprinting back to where they comrade was last. The gunfire intensified momentarily before it stopped completely. The sound of dripping water being the only sound left. Turning the corner, they saw a creature on the ground, next to another body. The creature turned to look at them as it felt the flashlights on it. Leveling a scream in their direction, the creature sprinted towards them, firing a weapon in their direction while doing so. The mercenaries and operatives responded in kind, emptying their vindicators on the target before it could harm any of them.

The creature fell a couple of meters in front of them, its blood coloring the water on the ground.

"What the fuck?" One commented as he moved closer to the creature, kicking it to make sure that it was dead. The action had the effect of turning the dead body over, revealing the disfigured features of a Batarian, cybernetics along its body could also be seen, with the most notable being the apparent armor that it had on its upper body.

Moving further back, they spotted the bloodied body of Grelo on the ground, his larynx ripped apart from his body, while his thorax and abdomen spotted multiple bullet holes and cuts, his intestines spread all over the floor for everyone to see. Idrato noticed Grelo's helmet further down the corridor, moving to take out whatever information he could from it. A sudden sound made them look at the body of the creature, putting them in alert until they noticed that it was disintegrating itself, along with the strange surgically inserted weapon that it had in its arm.

"Reapers." Leng said with disdain. His posture more alert while changing his weapon to incendiary rounds. "I thought that they could be involved after seeing the state of the colony, but it still doesn't explain why they would bother to put up appearances."

"Maybe there's something else that we are missing?" Miranda commented. The sound of a scream was then heard through the corridor, putting everyone on edge, "It seems like the commotion attracted more of those things."

"That thing," Idrato interrupted, "it got the jump of Grelo before starting to eat him." He finished with a tone of disgust, the video file that he had pulled from the helmet's camera saved on his omni-tool. "Let's get this over with Dracor."

Dracor nodded before motioning them to follow. Their sprint soon turned into a full run as more of the reaper victims started to come through the corridor behind them. Some similar to the one they had killed, while other looked more cybernetical and skeletal in appearance, the only signs of them being a living being once being the pieces of skin falling off from their bodies. Throughout the ordeal, none noticed their frequency detectors within their helmets giving off a warning signal before it returned to a normal state. Shields flashed in the middle of the corridor, as the group was hit by rounds from the approaching enemies.

Pulling out their SMGs, Leng throwed a portable energy shield barrier in the middle of the corridor, Miranda doing the same, before taking cover and firing back at their assailants. The mercenaries got the hint and started to fire as well on the oncoming wave. That is, until they started to notice that their rounds passed through some of the enemies, being seemingly unaffected by them.

"What the?" Idrato said, noticing the strange phenomena happening in front of his eyes. "What kind of trickery is this!" He exclaimed as he emptied his vindicator into the Batarian like reaper. "It's a fucking hologram." He said as he stopped firing, the rest had done so as well, after noticing that their weapons were having no effect on the still coming creatures, though they kept their guard up while moving backwards, towards the stairs that would take them up.

Trying to prove his point, Idrato stepped forward, firing his gun at one of the apparent holograms. They saw as the image of the reaper like creature was distorted as the rounds passed through it.

"See. Damn fucking holograms." Idrato said as he turned to look at his companions.

"Idrato! Get here now!" He said, his voice apparent with urgency. The rest noticed this, wondering why he sounded like that when they were clearly fighting holograms.

"What are you…GHA!" Idrato never finished as the apparent hologram caught up to him. The skeletal like creature easily overwhelming him even before the remaining ones got to him. Idrato screamed in agony as he felt his body being torn apart, the armor that he had seemingly not providing any protection.

The others fired their weapons, though their soon realized that their efforts were for naught, as the bullets passed through the beings without harming them, but instead, some hitting their comrade.

"Idrato!" One of the mercenaries screamed before starting to go towards his dying companion, that is, until Dracor grabbed him from the arm, stopping him.

"Leave him, there's nothing that we can do for him." Dracor said before turning towards the stairs, running to the floor in which the artifact that they had come for was located.

Miranda and Kai Leng looked at one another, seemingly coming to the same conclusion before following behind the rest, the screams of Idrato fading on the background. They arrived at their intended floor, locking the door behind them in hopes of keeping the creatures locked downstairs. The sound of more of the reapers in the floor with them put them on edge. Dodging quickly into one of the rooms and locking it, they found themselves within a laboratory of sorts. Incubation tubes with what appeared to be Asari, Turians, Salarians, and even a couple of Humans, Sangheili's and Batarians floated within. A board at the end of the room was full of notes, making several mentions of a sphere and something called the Leviathan.

"The Hegemony will definitely not like this." He said, "Alright, here's the What are you two doing?!" he exclaimed as the two CERBERUS operatives dragged him and sat him in one of the chairs before aiming their weapons at him. The other two mercenaries just looked on what was happening, figuring what was this about.

"Why don't you start by explaining what is really going on here?" Miranda asked, her tone being one of no nonsense.

The creatures outside seemed to have heard the commotion, as their screams seemed to be closer than before. The two mercenaries moved closer to the door, while looking around for something to barricade the door with.

"What are you talking about?" Dracor said, his tone nervous, "are you blaming me for what they have in those tubes?!" He finished, anger getting the better of him.

"Don't worry about that, CERBERUS will make sure to hunt down the ones responsible for this. I'll ask again, what is happening here?" At that, she pulled an M6H pistol, aiming it in between the armor plates of his shoulder.

"I don't know what you are talking about." He denied while looking at the gun aimed at him.

Miranda didn't say anything in response, instead, she nodded in Leng's direction. Kai Leng nodded back once, before taking Dracor's helmet off, before going for his Omni-tool. Dracor panicked at having his helmet removed, Miranda noticed this.

"First is that weird frequency jammer that you had us install in our helmets," She started off, counting with her free hand. In the meantime, Leng had already connected to the omni-tool and started to extract information from it, "then you seemingly know and have access to all this complex. And finally, it seems that you knew that those were no mere holograms, so I'll ask for the last time, what is happening here?" To emphasize her point, she moved her magnum, pointing in between his upper eyes.

"Okay, fine! Just, give me back my helmet." He said, panic clearly in his voice. Miranda only flipped the safety of the pistol off. Seeing this, Dracor said, "It's a long explanation."

"We have time." One of the mercenaries said as he pointed at the now barricaded door.

"You don't understand, the longer that we are in here, the more of a chance that we have of turning into one of those things!"

"Then I suggest you to start talking. My patience is running out you know?"

Dracor sighted, as if accepting his fate before starting to talk, "I'm no mercenary, I'm part of the security detail of this installation. After the attack of the Citadel, the artifact that the scientist had in here started to show some form of activity. I don't know the details, but it seemed to have the eggheads excited for some reason."

Miranda removed the gun from Dracor's face, motioning for him to continue.

"It was a few weeks after that we started to notice some strange things. Some of the personnel will start to show signs of schizophrenia, some claiming to feel watched while other outright stated that they were seeing monsters in the lab." He stopped, regaining his breath, the sound of the creatures outside having stopped, apparently moving on to another part of the lab. "We didn't believe them at first, thinking that it was stress from the apparent lack of progress with the artifact. I did hear many of them complaining about that."

"Anyways, the days moved on as normal, until, these same individuals started to turn violent, as if infected with your human equivalent of rabies, others just died from one day to the other. We had to put them down as they did not listen to reason. That's when the experiments started. I saw the personnel starting to bring many of the individuals from the mines; Asari, Turians, Batarians, Humans, you name it." He stopped as if thinking carefully what he was going to say next.

"That's when I saw it. During one of my patrol shifts, I managed to overlook one of the experiments being done. They had a Turian within some sort of room, with a one-way mirror. The Turian seemed to share many of the initial symptoms of the first victims. I still remember the panic in the Turian's features as he seemed to be struggling with something inside the room. I couldn't see anything else but later on in the night I found the report of the experiment. It seemed that whatever had caused those symptoms, caused its victims to see things, make their mind think that whatever those hallucinations were doing to them was real. I also saw…"

Dracor suddenly started to spasm, grabbing his head with both his hands as he dropped to the floor. One of the small blue spheres rolled down from one of the cabinets that Dracor had hit during his trashing, all the while saying, "Get off my head!"

The others aimed their weapons at him, as if expecting him to turn on against them. Kai Leng approached him, grabbing Dracor from the arms and trying to keep him still. "What else did you see? Dracor. Dracor!" Leng said while shaking him, trying to keep his attention on him, "What else did you see?"

Between grunts of pain, Dracor managed to say, "Contention…field. You. Have to." He screamed in pain once again, "you have to…ivate the contention field." With that, Dracor stopped moving as blood started to flow from his nose.

"Seems like those things he gave us were for a reason." One of the mercenaries said, his tone disturbed at what he had seen.

Leng stood up, apparently concluding that Dracor was dead, that is, until Dracor's body suddenly sat on the floor, his posture rigid as it looked at them. The voice that came from him however, it was not Dracor's, "Leave this place now, or die."

With the message delivered, Dracor's body dropped, dead.

"Did you manage to get anything from his omni-tool?" Miranda asked Kai.

"Got a map of the installation, and some interesting bits of data as well." He responded, sending the map data to the others in the room. Though he also sent Miranda the other information that he had pulled up.

"Alright, seeing as we can't tell which of those things we can hurt and which we can't, here's the plan." Kai started, "The lab-room with the artifact isn't far from here, if we can get there and activate its contention field, we may be able to stop these things."

"May?" One of the mercenaries said, incredulous, "Sorry but I'll need something better than 'we may'."

"Do you have a better idea?" Leng retorted, "then I suggest that you shut up and adhere to the plan." The sound of banging on the door could be heard, as the creatures were clearly trying to make their way into the room. "Now, seeing as we have not much of an option, we'll have to make our way to the lab-room through those creatures."

At that, one of the windows of the lab-room was broken, giving the creatures a small opening to enter through. They four survivors opened fire, killing most of the creatures while others seemed, once again, to be unaffected by the weapon's rounds. Seeing no apparent exit, with the barricade that the other two mercenaries had put, Leng primed a pair of grenades.

"Everyone, get to cover. Now!" He said before throwing the grenades at the barricaded door.

The explosion deafened momentarily their ears, though it had also cleared off the barricade and destroyed the door completely. Though the bodies within the capsules fell to the floor, their containers broken from the explosion. The explosion had apparently also killed off the apparent hallucinations, something that both operatives took notice of.

"Come on, move!" Miranda said as she exited the room, with the rest in tow behind her.

More screams from the creatures were heard all around in their current floor, making them move faster while shooting at anything that moved that wasn't them. Some fell, dead, while others ignored the rounds completely, moving to catch their prey. The four turned a corner, seeing the lab door ahead of them, and within, a big sphere with dark energy inside. Running while shooting, they didn't notice one of the creatures coming from the side until it was too late. The creature tackled the Batarian at their rear, its gun firing erratically around the downed mercenary. The other Batarian took notice of this, shooting his gun at the creature and sighting in relief at seeing it being killed.

Not one to question his luck, the mercenary stood up, quickly catching up with the rest as Leng hacked into the door and opened it. The creatures seemed to become more savage after seeing them enter the lab, moving even faster to catch up to them. Leng quickly shut and locked the door before they could get inside.

Turning around, they saw the floating sphere of energy within some type of chamber installed on the wall furthest to the back. Miranda quickly moved to the main console, with Kai doing the same while the mercenaries watched the door in anxiety. After typing a few commands, both CERBERUS agents managed to activate the contention field. The effect was instantaneous, the creatures at the door seemed to vanish from existence, though the four of them got a sudden headache as they felt something leave their mind. It seemed that the frequency jammer given to them had given them the time they needed to stop this.

"…shadow team do you copy? Respond over." Miranda and Kai heard through their radio.

"Shadow team here." Kai responded, stopping as he heard a response before continuing, "Send the ship and the drones for recovery, we'll also need a psychological evaluation after this. I'll send over the report with the information in a few minutes. Over."

"HA! Can't believe that actually worked." One of the mercenaries said, looking at the previous place were creatures were at. The sound of a couple of gunshots made him turn around, gun at the ready before a couple more sounded. Looking down, he saw as blood started to come through the plates of his armor, it seemed that the grenade explosion had overworked his shields, deactivating them. "What the"

"Sorry, but we can't let you spread word of what happened here." Leng said, the body of the other mercenary on the floor before Miranda put a round through his head.

"Why you," The Batarian tried to say before coughing out blood, "The Hegemony…"

"The Hegemony gave your friend Dracor orders to eliminate your team. They'll do nothing about a couple of mercenaries' death, especially after what happened here." Leng cut him off, firing a third round, killing him.

 **February 9** **, 2173, Citadel Council Calendar; Omega Nebula, Sahrabarik System, Omega station, Gozu District.**

The sound of screams and gunshots could be heard in the distance, as mercenaries and pirates raided the now empty houses on the mostly abandoned district. The normally full of life streets were empty, its residents barricaded behind the security of their locked doors or being attended to in the Omega clinic. Those that weren't part of one of the two groups, lay dead, or close to dying, on the streets, the coughing of blood from many of them signifying their final hours among the living.

With all the chaos found in the district, the Eclipse mercenary group had taken it upon themselves to try and restore some modicum of order, which had the bonus of gaining them the favor of Aria. This had led to many firefights on the streets, against pirates and other small mercenary groups raiding homes and preying upon the weak. A minor obstacle for an organization like Eclipse, though the presence of the Blood Pack had complicated things. It was bad enough that Krogan and Vorcha were the only species not affected by the plague, making Eclipse have to rely on their mechs and the few organic personnel that counted with air-filters to operate within the district.

It wasn't going well for Eclipse. They had the mechanized manpower, but mecs couldn't anticipate the creativity of organics, especially when said organics were resilient to most form of damage. That had brought Irira Pesatari to her current situation. The ex-Asari commando, now Eclipse mercenary, had been following the current Blood Pack leader for a couple of days now. Jaroth had set her in the trail, suspecting the Blood Pack of being the ones responsible in spreading the plague. He hadn't been wrong, though not in the way that they had expected, if what was currently happening was of any indication.

She moved to a better vantage point, getting a view of a few Krogans and a couple of Vorcha, behind them, multiple individuals were chained. Salves no doubt, and local residents to Omega or around the cluster. In front of the group, Irira saw a being of a species that, even in her centuries of being alive, she had never seen before. There were three of them, insect like appearance, with a triangular like face. There was almost no difference between them, except with the apparent leader, this one being the only one of the aliens that had spoken so far. His physical appearance was bigger than the others, with yellow-orange lines going through its body, almost like magma flowing down a volcano.

"We brought the specimens that you requested." The Krogan at the front said.

The alien didn't say anything, instead motioning for his two companions to move. They did so, though the Krogan stepped in front of them, blocking the way.

"Oh no. You'll have nothing until I see what we were promised." He said while pulling out his shotgun.

The peculiar alien looked at the Krogan before pulling some sort of briefcase from some platform behind him. "As promised." It began saying, the voice sounding like multiple voices speaking in overlap. "Keep doing as we ask of you and more will come your way." As if to prove his point, the alien motioned to where he had pulled the briefcase from, while opening the one in his hands. Within was a weapon of some sort, an assault rifle if Irira had to guess, and organic in its aesthetics. The platform behind the alien having a dozen or so of these briefcases.

The Krogan smiled, taking the offered rifle and examine it. He fired a couple of rounds at one to the buildings to test it, the rounds tearing through the wall as if it weren't there. Nodding to himself, the Krogan moved to the side, letting the aliens get the slaves before they departed the alley through another alley connected to it.

"Grab the guns, there's work to be done and a plague to spread." The Krogan said with a laugh before departing, his subordinates picking up the guns before leaving behind him.

"Well, well, well. Isn't this interesting." Irira said to herself, her Omni-tool on as she typed a few commands. "Well Jaroth, it seems like you were right. Though you don't pay me enough for all of this." She kept saying as she modified the recording. Once done, she sent the modified file to Jaroth.

When the upload was done, she pulled out another screen on her Omni-tool. A few seconds passed before a connection was established. She uploaded the original recording before a ding like sound came from her Omni-tool.

"This is more like it." She said as she saw the message that she got in response. Moving away from the area, her Omni-tool turned off as it displayed the CERBERUS logo on the screen among a sum of credits being transferred to one of her accounts.

 **February 9** **, 2173, Citadel Council Calendar; Omega Nebula, edge of Batalla System.**

Dracor smiled to himself at a well performed mission, even if it had almost killed him in the process. He had been lucky enough that he had multiple frequency jammers installed in various spots on his armor, as well as, that the grenade explosion hadn't outright killed him, or fried completely his equipment. He scoffed at that as he recalled the events prior to him leaving that forsaken planet.

His dead-man switch like activation that activated upon removing his helmet had worked like a charm. Once the helmet had been removed, his armor had injected a relatively slow acting toxin in his body, one to kill him momentarily. It had worked just in time, as it seemed that the Leviathan was about to take control of his mind, the jammers delaying it enough for the toxin to kill him.

A few minutes after his body had died, his armor initiated the process of reviving him with a dose of another chemical agent, it had been risky and there was the possibility of not working, but he had had not many other options. He knew that the CERBERUS agents would notice his clues eventually, after all, one didn't belong to an intelligence network without being smart enough.

He had woken up from his momentarily death state just as his teammates had thrown the grenade. He had acted fast, rolling under the desk just as the explosive detonated. With how pressing the situation had been, none had noticed his absence, or him standing up from the debris. Afterwards, he had started to work on his second objective, leaving the room and moving across the hall. He had been spotted by one of the things roaming the halls just as the CERBERUS agents had activated the contention field. He had thanked them for that before moving into another room, this one being one of the main labs of the floor. Quickly working on one of the terminals, he downloaded all the information within and left behind only snippets for CERBERUS to take. His orders were clear, to make sure that the Alliance or CERBERUS obtained the artifact and to leave them certain scraps of information to point them in the right direction.

The Hegemony was aware that the Alliance was looking into the Leviathans' existence, the entire galaxy by now was beginning to suspect of their existence; Reapers, they called them instead. His job was to clue the Alliance into what big of a threat the Leviathans really were. The Hegemony had seen what a handful of them were capable of at the Battle of the Citadel, and after seeing what kind of damage Covenant and Alliance ships were capable of, it was in their best interest to prepare their new allies for the incoming threat.

Dracor had questioned why not simply offer the Alliance their entire information on the Leviathans, their civilization was at risk after all, and political games would only hinder their survival once the Leviathans arrived at the galaxy. The answer that he had gotten was less than satisfactory, but the logic behind it was sound. If they came clean with their hand, then the Alliance wouldn't believe them, hell, if the tables were turned, the Hegemony wouldn't believe it either. They hadn't at first, but multiple decades of researching and investigation had proven their fears to be true.

With the data acquired, Dracor finished his mental monologue and proceeded to exit the building. A simple task, now that there was no danger at all within the building. Exiting in the same way they had come in, Dracor noticed a lower count of bodies in the room connecting to the sewers. He ignored the detail, moving quicker as he knew that he was operating on borrowed time. Getting back to the surface, he stole a vehicle, its owner unconscious after having his mind back under his control, the shock of switching from an unconscious to a conscious state so suddenly being too much for the brain to handle properly.

The trip back felt like it took hours for him, but he had managed to make it back to his shuttle just in time. The sight of the Condor down the cliff assuring him that the backup that Miranda and Leng had spoken of had yet to arrive.

He had departed the planet immediately after that, taking him to his current situation. Inputting the coordinates of his destination, the shuttle left the system just as a CERBERUS frigate entered it, the pirate ships on the system partially aware of what was happening, let the ship approach the planet to pick up their cargo. Dracor left the shuttle on automatic pilot, using the communication terminal to send a single message back to Kar'shan. **"Operation was a success. Artifact under Alliance control and information deleted and distributed as instructed. Awaiting further orders."** With the message sent, Dracor decided to take some shut eye time, the trip was going to be a long one and the previous mission had been an exhausting one.

 **A/N: Well, first of, I want to apologize for the delay in this. College and work are mostly responsible for this, though other factors also had a hand in this.**

 **Anyways, I want to answer a guest reviewer that pointed something out with the sandstorm scene of the previous chapter.**

 **The storm itself acts similar to how the ones seen in Gears of War 4 appear (as I took the idea from there). There's a brief period of time where the storm basically announces were it will strike the ground next, negligible as Irnant is moving too fast to notice this. Here's where her Omni-tool comes into play. Seeing as most of her current equipment is made to enhance the software capabilities of her omni-tool, the software within is calculating and making predictions of where the next lightning strike will hit. As such, it informs Irnant seconds before that happens, giving her enough time to evade the hit.**

 **The Phantom however, it's at a higher altitude and has a mayor mass, mostly made of electricity conductors. As such, the time it has to evade a lightning strike is so small that it's almost impossible. Knowing this, the occupants kept following Irnant within the storm, trusting the ship's shields to protect them long enough for them to neutralize their target. In short, they overestimated the ferocity of the storm and payed the price.**

 **Hopefully this answers your question. Also, if you are able, make an account, that way I can answer any questions more quickly.**

 **Moving on, next chapter should be up either days before new year or a week or so after. Have some good holydays and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!**


	7. An Ancient Secret (Part 2 of 2)

**The Next Great Journey: Awakening**

 **DISCLAIMERS: I don't own any Halo or Mass Effect products; they belong to their respective owners.**

 **Beta Reader:** **l3loodKnight**

Chapter 6: An Ancient Secret (Part 2 of 2)

 **February 10, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar; Horsehead Nebula, Unknown System,** _ **Kronos**_ **Station.**

The now blue lone star on the system floated without any seemingly interesting activity. The only sign of life being a passing small ship through the system. This was but momentarily as moments later, it entered FTL. Closer to the star, multiple frigates and corvettes patrolled safely behind the optical camouflage barrier, among many other types, that multiple satellites provided for them. The small ship that had left, remaining unaware of the presence of such military force. Said satellites were only possible thanks to Forerunner technology, making their energy readings almost non-existent to most ship's scanners.

Within the room overlooking the dying star, TIM had assumed his usual position on his chair, a smoke on his left hand. In front of him, the holographic images of Miranda Lawson and Kai Leng were looking at him, both in a more civilian attire.

"Leng, Lawson." He started in greeting, "I hope that your evaluations ended with good results?" He asked, an eyebrow slightly raised.

Kai nodded before responding, "Affirmative sir. We are both clear to go on with our next assignment." His tone was confident, though TIM could still see the slight signs of exhaustion in both of their eyes.

"I'm afraid that not yet." He paused, taking a smoke before continuing, "It'll take us a few more days to completely decrypt the information that you two obtained from the lab." Pressing a button on his chair, a couple of holographic screens appeared next to him, showing the data recovered from the agents' suit cameras, "As for the other matter, Redeemer has personally confirmed that all the footage taken on the operation is real and was not altered by any ways. Leng, your disappeared Batarian friend was real and seems to have survived his," He paused, looking for the appropriate word, "…episode during your interrogation."

Kai Leng had a surprised look, though it lasted momentarily. He was sure that Dracor had been some sort of hallucination of them, just like those phantoms that attacked them on the lab, as there had been no indication of Dracor's remains after the detonation of the grenades.

"There's also the fact that there are no records of a Dracor Dhed'rolok working for the Hegemony or under any pirate groups. More than likely, it is an alias." He paused, letting the meaning of his words sink into the agents, "Considering that we are likely dealing with some form of spy of the Hegemony, there's nothing that we can do about it at the moment. We'll keep an eye out for him and the shuttle that he took off on." The pause that he made next put both operatives on edge, that is, until they heard his next words, "Overall, congratulations on a job well done, it will take a few days before your next assignment is given. I advise some rest in the meantime." With that dismissal, he cut the communication off.

As if on cue, 216-Redeemer entered, muttering to himself. The floating monitor stopped in front of TIM, his normally green eye changing to red momentarily. The monitor shook himself side to side, mimicking the organic gesture to clear one's mind.

"Radiance, the station that I mentioned weeks ago. We have the results of the analysis." Redeemer paused, his eye returning to a green color once again. "The organic material that we found on the station and within the few remaining bodies, it's some form of secretion, Flood in origin."

TIM blinked in surprise, his cigarette involuntarily falling to the ground, "Are you speaking about the observing station that your sentinels found destroyed? With the personnel inside attached to the walls with an unknown substance?"

"Yes, the very same one. According to our scans, the Flood has evolved into something else."

"What do you mean?" The worried tone in TIM's voice could be easily heard.

"We are unsure how this change affects them exactly besides increasing their ability to infect organic material."

"I see. Inform the Alliance immediately, send them everything that you have found."

"Currently transmitting the data."

TIM pulled out another cigarette to calm his nerves, moving towards the window looking at the star. Redeemer followed behind, a calm silence slowly descending between them. A couple of minutes passed before TIM turned, looking at the floating monitor besides him.

"How's your solution coming along?" He asked.

Redeemer looked at TIM, thinking on his response before speaking, "Its progressing slowly, but faster than I had expected. It seems that you Alliance members know how to operate and manipulate to an extent our technology, but replicating it from scratch? You seem to have some trouble with what Forerunners designated as basic knowledge on the area." Redeemer chuckled good naturally at that, "Your personal and AIs on board are doing good progress, by my estimates, and assuming progress keeps at this pace, it should be done just in time."

"Why not make it yourself then? Or try to explain it to them?" TIM asked curiously.

"I can't. Part of my solution to deal with my incoming rampancy depends on me knowing as little as possible on how the device will work. If I go and help them, there's the possibility that my future rampant self will be able to make my solution useless."

"I see. Are you sure that you have enough time?"

"By my calculations, it'll be another 2 years before rampancy starts slightly affecting my performance and actions, another half a year before I succumb completely by it. I'll either be rid of the problem permanently or be destroyed before it's too late."

The tone in which Redeemer said it was final, with no space for argument. TIM understood this and nodded as a sign of support.

 **February 15, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar; Caleston Rift, Aysur System, Asteroid Belt, Mahavid Station.**

The civilian drop-ship landed on the kamacite mining station, situated in one of the asteroids of the belt, its thrusters carefully guiding the ship to a smooth landing. After a few moments, Miranda and Kai excited the ship, both dressed in a formal attire while carrying a couple of briefcases. Waiting for them in the platform, a couple of mechs stood guard while a single Turian made his way over to them.

It had been a day ago that the CERBERUS's analysts had managed to decrypt the information from the lab and found a lead for them to follow. An email sent to a doctor that, according to their information, worked aboard the station. All they had to do was to access the doctor's personal computer aboard, and hope that it had the information that they needed. The effects of the time off that both operatives had taken could also be clearly noticed, as they no longer had that haunted look on their eyes and seemed more energetic.

"We were not expecting any visitors." The Turian that approached them said, confusion clear on his tone of voice, "The next visitor was due to arrive in two hours."

"Surprise inspection from Arvuna. The higher ups planet-side want to make sure that operations are running smoothly." There was a slight pause in the response, "We do not want another delay in materials vital to the colony." Kai Leng finished with the hints of an accusatory tone. Miranda on the other hand, pulled out a data-pad before giving it to the Turian.

The Turian took the offered data-pad and read it, his expression becoming more confused as he read through. After some seconds the Turian turned, motioning for them to follow, both did so without saying a word. Passing through the first door, they entered a waiting room. Like the 21st century airports of Earth, multiple seats were aligned alongside each other, the rows giving their backs to the stairs in the back of the room. A small group of people were within the room, some sitting, reading or working on their data-pads, others stood in various parts of the room, talking to one another. The Turian guided them through the stairs to the second floor before proceeding through the door.

"Reception desk is over there," He said while pointing at the back corner of the room. With his task done, the Turian left back to his post.

Both Cerberus operatives moved to the mentioned desk, noticing that none of the present occupants of the room paid them any mind. Arriving at the see-through glass room that served as a reception, Miranda put her briefcase on the small table while putting on a friendly smile.

"Hello. We are the inspectors sent to evaluate the efficiency of the station." She said while passing them her data-pad. "We would like to speak with Dr. Rospoth."

The Batarian at reception looked at the data-pad before looking over to his terminal, pulling up some files.

"There was no scheduled inspection until next month." The Batarian simply said, looking at Miranda expectantly.

"We are aware of that. But there have been some recent changes of staff in headquarters. I'm afraid that, just like this surprise inspection, a couple more will be done in the following months. The details are on the data-pad." She said, her sweet and polite tone not faltering once throughout the exchange.

The Batarian grunted in displeasure, handing back the data-pad after transferring some files into it. "Then take this files to your superiors and tell them that Dr. Rospoth is currently unavailable, as he has left the system due to work reasons." He simply said, going back to his terminal and ignoring any response that Miranda could have.

Seeing that it would be futile to try and convince the Batarian to let them through, Miranda moved back to where Kai was waiting. She moved her head in the negative, before he nodded and started to exit the room. Miranda followed him momentarily before taking a turn and entering the restrooms. Some of the people outside looked at her action, before turning back to what they were doing.

Within the restroom, Miranda made a quick check, making sure that there was no one else in there and that there were no cameras. Satisfied with her inspection, she entered one of the stalls, closing the door behind her before opening her briefcase. Pulling out a holo-drone, she activated the terminal within the briefcase. The drone lighted up momentarily before it started moving out of the stall. At the same time, her suit seemed to flicker out of existence, her formal secretary outfit replaced with her phantom armor. She left the room, none of the ones present aware of what she had done, as she moved out of the station.

Miranda caught up to Kai Leng, who was already waiting at the landing pad, nodding slightly at him before both boarded their ship and departed the station. Once they were outside the asteroid field, Kai activated the camouflage function of the small transport, rendering them invisible optically and to most scanners, more than enough to hide from a mining station's scanners. At the same time, Miranda vanished from the seat next to his, leaving only the drone on its place. Switching directions, Kai guided the transport back towards the station, positioning himself close enough to it. Pressing a few commands, another screen replaced the ship controls, this one showing a map of the station along a pulsating yellow dot. He started to work, sending Miranda the data that she needed.

Within the station, Miranda, under her active camouflage, was still within the reception area, her decoy having successfully fooled everyone within to make it appear that she had also left. The holo-drone was a prototype in its final phases, experimental cutting-edge technology that combined Covenant holographic technology with Forerunner hard light technology. As a result, the device was capable of creating a holographic copy of an individual or an object, that could interact with its environments, though it had its drawbacks. Due to the amount of power it needed to operate with, as well as, the necessary materials to make said power readings as minimal as possible, the decoy was able to stay active all but for a few minutes.

Following behind one of the personnel of the station, as he opened a door for her to slip through, Miranda managed to stay undetected until reaching the living quarters of the station. It had taken her about an hour to get there, having to wait for the station's personal to open the doors for her, so as to not trigger any unnecessary alarms. The HUD of her phantom armor's helmet light up as data started to stream in front of her eyes. The map of the station showed up in 3D, before zeroing on her position, showing the rooms closer to her. A blue line appeared from her position, going over the route that she needed to take before stopping at a single room 90 meters from her position. Cameras and other types of monitoring devices lighted up along the route, showing their position and their field of detection.

Miranda moved swiftly and fast, just as she was trained by CERBERUS many months ago. Personnel passed by her multiple times, some chatting idly between them, while others worked in their data-pads or omni-tools. Reaching her destination, Miranda deactivated the camera overlooking the corridor that she was on, replacing its footage with a fabricated one. A task done simply with her tactical wrist terminal and the VI within. Pulling out a device from one of her armor pockets, just as her camouflage deactivated, she put the device on the control-pad next to the door. She waited a bit, letting the device due its work before the door lock turned green, the door opening.

Putting the device back from where she got it, Miranda moved inside. The room was small, with a bed on one side and a terminal in front of it. Multiple data-pads and other devices laid around in the room, as well as, some pictures showing the doctor's accomplishments throughout his years. Miranda ignored all of that, moving straight for the terminal, she pulled a small chip from her wrist terminal, inserting it into the computer. _"Thank god that those universal chips were made months ago."_ She thought to herself, remembering how the Alliance and Citadel products had some compatibility issues when they started trading. To solve the problem, both powers had agreed to a universal design on their civilian technologies, most of these still keeping the option to be able to work with the previous models.

The civilian firewalls and locks were easily removed by the military grade VI, and soon enough, Miranda was going through the computer files, the VI within the chip decrypting and downloading everything within the terminal. Looking to the side, Miranda spotted a small data-pad still turned on, a single message being displayed on it. It was the same E-Mail that they had gotten from one of the computers in the Logasiri facility, and the reason that they had known about the doctor's involvement with what had transpired on that planet.

A notification ping appeared on her HUD, indicating that the VI had finished its job. Miranda picked the device back, exiting the room and locking it behind her, not bothering to check what she had obtained from the doctor's personal terminal.

The operation itself was a gamble in itself, with them not knowing if they would get anything useful from the station to begin with, and it being operated by civilians made things more complicated. They couldn't exactly come in guns blazing, as that would draw too much unnecessary attention, so both operatives had opted for this approach instead.

Outside in space, Kai moved the ship under the station, waiting for Miranda to arrive at the pickup point. Soon enough, an airlock opened, and Miranda exited the station, using the small thrusters on her armor to get to their ship, this one being highlighted on her HUD. Kai activated the shields within, protecting himself from the vacuum of space before opening the door for Miranda to get in. Once in, he moved the ship to the edge of the system before jumping out of it at FTL speeds towards their destination.

"How did it go?" He asked as Miranda took a seat next to him.

"Easier than expected." She said with a bored tone.

Kai chuckled in response before answering, "Well, it's a civilian installation, not much of challenge to begin with."

The smirk on his face irked Miranda for some reason as she huffed in response. "Don't you have a ship to fly?" She said a bit annoyed, starting to go through the files that she had gotten. She wouldn't be able to make much progress due to the amount of information downloaded, and she knew it, but it would keep her occupied. Kai laughed in response before turning to do just that, keeping an eye out on the information terminals of the ship.

 **February 18, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar; Horsehead Nebula, Unknown System,** _ **Kronos**_ **Station.**

Within the protected station, T.I.M. looked over at a few reports, in particular, one about agent Messner. According to it, his mission had been a success and was due to report once again some hours later. That had been 3 days ago. He was concerned, if only for the package that Messner was supposed to acquire. If it had been any of his other agents, he could summarize it as some form of unexpected circumstance, but in Messner's case, he had always made a point of sending something, even if something unexpected had happened. He had yet to receive anything.

Looking at the second report, his eyes widened at the implications that it had. Their agents had detected a low frequency pulse coming from one of their emergency devices. According to their analysts, the signal came from the Terminus, more specifically: Selvos, the same planet that Messner was on. The only thing that didn't make sense was that the signal was sent a day after Messner's last message. _"Perhaps the deal was some sort of trap by the Matriarch?"_ That would explain some things, Asari Matriarchs had a great deal of influence, and this one more in particular. She could have set a mercenary team on Messner, making it almost impossible for him to escape the planet, thus forcing him to activate his distress beacon. _"If so, then why? What would she gain from this?"_ Something didn't seem to line with that line of thought, though he couldn't discard the possibility until he had more information.

He gave a few commands to the holographic terminals before standing from his chair and moving closer to the holographic communicator. The image of a Kig'Yar appeared, saluting him.

"Put Jacob and Garrus on the line, we have a situation." T.I.M. said.

 **February 15, 2575, Systems Alliance Calendar; Sigurd's Cradle, Mil, Selvos.**

Albert Messner walked through the crowded night streets of a city that he hadn't bothered to learn the name of. He was here on business and the faster they were done and over with, the better. Having just sent a message to his boss, informing him that the package should be in his possession within the next few hours, he kept moving towards the designated meeting place.

He passed by a couple of Asari, both obviously too drunk on alcohol for their own good. Messner smirked in their direction, making a call me sign to both of them. The two just giggled in response as he passed by, though one of them pulled out a small paper, scribbling something down on it before stepping on his path. She gave the paper to him before moving on with her companion.

The fact that there were still people on the galaxy using the centuries' old style of writing material was enough to momentarily stop him on his tracks. He looked at the paper, noticing an address before he put it on the back pocket of his black pants.

"There's still hope for the galaxy." He said to himself. He couldn't help it, he loved old stuff and tech.

Entering the bar that he was heading for, it was clear from the beginning that he was the odd one out of the bunch, and not for being the only Human inside. His outfit, consisting of black boots and pants, along with a red shirt saying, _"The Crew"_ , a call back to the 1980's rock band; and a leather jacket on top, he stood out among the crowd. Some looked at him, wondering where he got the strange outfit from, others, mostly the Asari, seemed to recognize the trend from the Human history books that they had read. As he moved in, he nodded back to the Turian that had nodded in his direction, indicating that he liked the outfit.

On the far-right corner of the establishment, a single Asari with light blue complexion and in a doctor's outfit sat by herself in the corner table. He approached, noticing instantly that she seemed to want to be anywhere but there at the time. He activated his recently acquired omni-tool, pulling up a picture of who he was to meet, sure enough, it was the Asari sitting by herself. The device was handy, what with all its many applications, though he was able to only obtain a civilian version, as the military one was still closely held by the Council from reaching Alliance space.

"Treeya Nuwani I presume?" He asked as he took a seat in front of her.

The Asari looked at him, scanning him while raising an eyebrow, or what Asari had as an equivalent to an eyebrow, at his choice in outfit. He smiled suggestively, making an exaggerated motion of being flattered by her looking at him.

"Careful there babe, keep looking at me like that and I'll have to take you to an hotel." The amusement on his eyes could easily be distinguished, even by non-humans.

Treeya rolled her eyes at his antics, while trying to get them in track. "I was certainly expecting a fellow anthropologist or, at the very least, someone more serious Mr. Messner." she said, the smirk on his face only serving to slightly irritate her more by the second. "Especially due to the nature of the package that you requested."

At the mention of the package, Messner's expression turned business like, surprising Treeya by the speed in which he had changed expressions. She attributed it to a Human thing. Before either of them could say anything else a waitress approached their table, asking if she could get anything for them.

"I'll take a beer," He paused, checking the waitress out momentarily before continuing, "and your number." He said with a flirty tone, winking in the waitress' direction. For her part, the Asari ignored the comment, writing down the order before looking at Treeya.

After telling the waitress that she didn't want anything, Treeya looked back at Messner, an incredulous look on her face.

"So, do you have the packet or not?" Messner asked business like before she could say anything on what he had done previously.

If anything, her job as an anthropologist helped her in dealing with the unexpected, though, in this case, it was proven more difficult than usual. She composed herself rather quickly, something that she took small pride on before answering.

"Before that, I'm curious. Who are you really to have gathered Matriarch Benezia's attention? She insisted that I delivered the package to you if I might add." She was genuinely curious on the matter and couldn't understand how someone like him could have gathered the Matriarch's attention.

It had been a couple of days after the Matriarch had come back from her trip to Daratar, shortly after the Citadel had been attacked, that she had started to notice some changes on the Matriarch. They were minor and had not compromised her ability to lead and guide the other Asari, but her sudden interest in anthropology, along many other militaristic actions, plus her dealings with the Systems Alliance had been sudden for her. She suspected that something had happened on Daratar to make her act like this, and right now, Messner seemed to have the answers to those questions.

Messner chuckled slightly, "It's not me that she is interested in, but who I work for." He saw as Treeya's curiosity was picked and his smirk widened, "Let's just say, that the less you know, the better. Ignorance is a bliss as the Human saying goes." he paused as the waitress returned with his beer, he nodded in her direction in thanks before taking a swing at the bottle. "Now, I believe that we were about to complete this transaction between us. As soon as you give me the package, you'll get the promised amount." He paused, looking at her before a smile came over him, "And more if you are interested." He added.

Treeya blushed a bit, though she managed to get under control rather quickly. As she was about to respond, the city alarm started to sound, startling her. The Turians within the bar immediately exited the establishment, some of them pulling out radios and calling at the local garrisons. The city speakers kept repeating a single message, for the civilians to find shelter on the nearest bunkers from their position until the local militia had everything under control. Panic started to settle within the habitants of the bar, some flooding out in a rush while others stood there, trying to process what was happening.

On the streets, mechs stood by, guiding the civilians to the bunkers while securing the streets. Turian and Asari commandos pulled outside the city's perimeter, setting up positions as small groups patrolled the streets, trying to get the civilians to the shelters. All in all, it was an extremely well-organized military response for a Terminus system colony. Messner exited the building, Treeya not far behind him, once the initial panicked people had flooded out of the establishment. Both stood outside the bar, looking at the illuminated night sky as sudden flashes of light appeared on the cloudless sky. _"Explosions."_ Messner thought, immediately recognizing what was going on. At the same time, he saw as the debris of one ship entered atmosphere, its trajectory taking it far away from the city in which he was.

It hadn't been minutes after seeing the explosions on the sky, when multiple ships started to descend on the planet. Messner spotted at least 3 ships of similar design, cylindrical in appearance with a radial outward circle at its center. Around him, the other people that were still outside looked at the ships in awe, surprised that a ship of such size was capable of that kind of atmospheric entry with little to no trouble. They were woken out of their stupor once the colony's AA-Guns opened fire on the ships, their shields flashing as they absorbed the kinetic rounds with relative ease.

In response to the attack, a bright light was emitted from the 3 ships, it was but for a second, before a shockwave seemed to assault the city. Glass windows broke due to the frequency of the pulse, and the AA-Gun fire, along with the mechs and all the city lights, stopped working. Messner tried to activate his Omni-tool, though it not responding confirmed what he had suspected.

"EMP." He said loud enough for Treeya to hear him.

"What?" She asked, confused as panic started to rise within her.

Instead of answering, Messner took her hand and ran back inside the bar, closing the door behind him as he noticed something exiting the ships, heading for the city thanks to his military grade implants. He couldn't get a good look at what it was that had come out, but his neural-implant had managed to analyze the approaching things as some form of biosynthetic organism of relatively small mass.

"Okay, listen, we have to get out of here, now. If we can make it towards my ship..." He started to say before stopping, noticing the confused look in Treeya's face, not at the situation, but at him.

"Wha..why can't I understand you?" She said.

"Shit." He said, realizing what had happened. Before he could think of something, panicked screams started to be heard outside, alongside shooting.

He acted quickly, his neural-implant working on the double to provide its host with as much data as it could. Taking a table, Messner moved it towards the door; Treeya quickly understanding what he tried to do, moved in to help him. Between the both of them, they managed to make a makeshift barricade on the door, hoping to gain at least some minutes to think of something. The sound of a bottle being dropped from a stand made both of them turn towards the source of the noise, immediately seeing another bottle fall from the stand behind the bar table.

Messner made a motion for Treeya to stay behind him as he pulled out a .357 Magnum from a holster covered by his leather jacket, alongside a Citadel standard Predator pistol. The former weapon was an antique that he had gotten back on Earth a couple of years ago. After some reparations and much money invested on it, he had managed to have it working as if it were new, though he had also invested on the ammunition for it. Overall, he still thought that it was an investment well worth it, even if modern shielding would make the weapon useless in comparison to modern weaponry, it still packed a punch. It also had the benefit of being easy to smuggle to planets, as he could easily claim that it was nothing more than a mere model.

Moving towards the source of the noise, Messner stopped before lifting 3 fingers. Counting down, he turned the corner quickly, looking under the bar table, his guns aimed at whatever or whoever was in there. Treeya followed behind him, her biotics active and ready to unleash a warp if necessary. Messner's neural-implant immediately identified the person hiding as the same waitress that had taken their order minutes ago. Releasing a sigh of relief, Messner put his guns back on their respective holsters as he adopted a non-hostile approach on the clearly scared Asari. Behind him, Treeya deactivated her biotics before moving towards the Asari, trying to provide some reassurance that everything would be fine.

"Hey you okay girl?" Messner asked the still scared Asari as Treeya pulled her up to stand.

She looked at him confused, before looking at Treeya, asking why she couldn't understand him. Messner sighed, having forgotten about that small but crucial detail. As he started to think of a way to solve the communication problem, he didn't notice as Treeya looked at him, an idea coming over her.

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Messner turned to look at Treeya, who seemed to try to explain something to him through words and signs. It was a wasted effort as he could understand her just fine, though it seemed like she didn't know that. After she finished explaining her idea to solve their communication problem, he nodded in acceptance. She planned to use her ability to meld to get a grasp of his language and then do the same with the other Asari. Knowing how the meld worked, Messner concentrated on his native language, Slovak in this case, as Treeya started the meld. The action took nothing but a couple of seconds, and by the end of it, both had a slight headache. He stepped to the side as Treeya did the same with the other Asari, transferring what knowledge she had gotten to her as well.

"Well, this ought to be better now." Treeya said, the words and mouth movements feeling alien to her, as well as, the accent that she seemed to have gotten.

Messner blinked in slight surprise as he realized that she was speaking Slovak. The words had a weird accent coming from her, but he could understand her just fine with or without the translator.

"You realize, that I could understand what you two were saying all the time right?" He said. He couldn't help the small smirk that came over him as he saw them blush a bit.

Clearing her throat, Treeya spoke; this time, in her own language. "And why is that if I may ask?"

"Simple really, the EMP seems to be targeted to work on mass effect technologies. In this case, your translators." He paused momentarily, as the sound of gunfire stopped outside, "The translator that I have works similar to yours, but its fundamental technology is completely different. I could go on more details, but I don't think that we have the time."

As if on cue, banging could be heard on the barricaded door, while lights started to be seen through the windows. "Search parties." Messner said as he took both Asari and hid behind the bar. Looking at the waitress he asked, in a low tone of voice, "Are there any other exits from this place?"

The Asari in question nodded, her body trembling in fear at what was happening outside. "Through the cargo room on the back."

Messner nodded in acknowledgment, "Alright, guide us there on my signal. Once we are outside, I'll take lead." He paused, listening for any sounds before looking at the still trembling Asari. "I'm Albert Messner by the way," he said as he grabbed her shoulder in an effort to provide some sort of comfort.

"Noli," She replied while trying to get herself under control.

"Nice to meet 'cha Noli." Messner continued in a friendly tone before turning more serious "Now, listen to me. I need you to stay calm throughout this. You do that, and I promise you that I'll get you out of here, alright?"

Noli hesitated but for a bit, looking at Treeya first. Seeing the later nod, she nodded in Messner's direction, her nerves slightly calmer than before. The banging on the door stopped at the same time as the search lights turned from the windows. Motioning for them to move, Treeya and Messner followed Noli as she guided them through the employees' area towards the back. Throughout all of this, Treeya watched Messner, noticing how collected and in control of himself he seemed, this only served to raise more questions. _"Who is he really?"_ She thought to herself.

It took them a couple of minutes to get to the back, as they had to manually open the doors along the way, but other than that, they arrived without too much trouble. Seeing the personnel door that led to the outside, Messner managed to unlock it with relative ease, the previous doors serving as practice. As Messner nodded to indicate the door was open, Noli was about to open it before she was stopped. Messner made a motion for both Asari to hide and stay quiet as he pulled out both of his pistols. Getting closer to the door, he used one of his hands to force it open, it took him a few seconds, but he managed to get it done.

Stepping outside, he immediately noticed that he was in some sort parking lot, with multiple cargo vehicles parked. His implant kept working overtime, analyzing the data on its surroundings and marking points of interest. With no indication of a hostile presence, Messner moved to one of the marked points of interest. Due to how dark the sky was, and the hostile ship covering the light of the moon, Messner could not identify what was it that was on the ground, not from that distance. The lack of any sound on the city put him on edge as the atmosphere seemed to get heavier with every step that he took. He moved closer, watching his surroundings all along until he was a couple of meters from the object in question.

"Fuck," He said as his implant identified the body on the ground. A Turian laid there, motionless and within some form of stasis field. Due to the lack of light, Messner could not see the eyes of the Turian looking at him, almost begging him to help him in some way.

" _Dead body it seems."_ Messner thought before returning to where he had left the two Asari. He failed to notice the panicked look that overcame the Turian as he left him there.

"Alright, it's clear." He said once he was back inside the bar. "Here's the plan. We need to get to my ship; if we make it, then we might still have a chance to escape from here."

Treeya looked at him dubiously, the idea not making any sense to her as there was no reason to believe that his ship would work, "What makes you think that it was not affected by that EMP?" She voiced her thoughts.

Messner shrugged before answering, "It didn't affect my translator, so it stands to reason that the ship wasn't affected either." Treeya kept looking at him, an incredulous look on her face, "It's better than nothing." Messner added as an afterthought. _"And I can make sure that these bastards don't take any sensible data from within."_

"I still think that it's a bad idea. We should try to get to one of the bunkers instead. We will be safe in there." Treeya argued back.

"Really? Girl, what part of we are under attack do you not understand? I don't know about you but staying put while waiting for some miraculous rescue is not my idea of survival." Messner said, letting annoyance show in his words.

"And running around in the open in the hopes that your ship might work is a better one!?" She replied, her tone low, as to not draw attention, but her frustration and anger clearly showing.

Messner sighted, massaging his temples for a second before saying, "Look, if you want to go to the bunkers, then fine. Be my guest. I'll be going to my ship, but first, the data." He finished, his hand extended expectantly, while his other hand opened his jacket, showing his holstered pistol, the intention coming across clearly.

Before Treeya could reply, Noli interrupted both of them, she had stayed by the door, looking outside while the other two argued, not wanting to get dragged into said argument. She only wanted to survive this, though she wasn't sure on what course of action to take. Messner seemed like he knew exactly what was going on, surprising as she had thought him to be nothing more than another womanizer from what she had seen of him on the bar. Treeya, on the other hand, seemed to be more reasonable and less prone to take risks, though her idea had a clear problem, if the EMP had affected the entire city, then it would be impossible to get into one of the safety bunkers without the use of heavy explosives. But right now, they wouldn't get anywhere with things as they stood between them.

"Stop it you two." She said in the verge of tears, her young age clearly showing on her expression along her pent-up frustration and fear. Turning to the Asari, she said, "Treeya, getting to the bunkers is not an option. Their lock systems run in tandem with the city's power plant." she stopped there as she noticed realization flash through Treeya's eyes.

"Well, you heard the kid." Messner said, a smug expression on his face, "Seems like my ship is your only real option. So now, you have two options, you come with us, or you go by yourself to wander the city. Either way, that data will come with me." He paused momentarily, letting his words sunk in, "Now, choose."

Treeya wouldn't admit it, but, in her panic, she had forgotten about that detail that Noli had pointed out. Sighting to herself, she pulled out the disk in which the data was stored, showing it to Messner.

"You want this? Then get us out of the planet and its yours." She said, her biotics flashing briefly to show that, just like him, she was going to use force if necessary.

Messner stood there, looking at her with a neutral expression. It wasn't until a few seconds that he seemed to find what he was looking for before nodding. "Alright, you got a deal." He simply said as he turned and made for the exit, "Come on, we have to…" He stopped, listening. "Something is coming." He informed them, having picked up the increased sound of chirping and buzzing.

Seeing a couple of open containers with multiple crates within, Messner motioned for both Asaris to hide in there, him going after them and taking cover behind the crates. They didn't had to wait long as the chirping sound increased, whoever was out there, was now in the room with them. The three of them stayed put, while Messner risked looking over the crate that he was hiding from, he could see two figures standing by the door, one of them moving further in into the bar, while the second one came over in their general direction. He hid quickly, pulling out a knife from his belt as he did so.

Breathing in to calm his nerves, he looked at the Asari hiding across his right. He made a motion to stay quiet and to keep hiding. When he got a nod in reply, he risked another peak over the crate, he could see the being approaching their hiding spot, searching for something. Messner waited patiently until the being was close enough to his position, taking a final breath, he struck. Moving fast and using his implants to his advantage, Messner managed to catch the insect like being by surprise, quickly redirecting its weapon to the side as he impaled the insectoid on the head, he pulled the knife just as fast, only to bring it down once again on its head. The insectoid was powerless to do anything but make a single chirping sound at the attack before it stopped moving.

Standing up and cleaning his knife on the being's body, he secured his weapon on its holster. "Figures. Collectors." He said after looking at the dead body in disgust.

"What? That's a Collector?" Noli asked in surprise, with Treeya in a similar state. "But...wh..why would they attack us? We haven't done anything to them!" She asked as her panic increased.

"The why is not important. At least, not at the moment." Messner said, "What's important is getting out of here. Come on, my ship ain't far from here."

Messner moved on ahead, not saying anything else on the subject. It took both Asari a couple of seconds more to recompose themselves and start to follow him. _"I swear, if this goes wrong, I'll kill him myself."_ Treeya thought, not happy that she ended up following Messner on his suicidal idea of survival.

The first thing they noticed upon entering one of the main streets, was the amount of bodies just standing there, motionless. Some seemed to be stuck in a running position, while others were laying on the floor. Before they could fully process what was it that they were seeing, Messner took their hands, pulling them to a hiding spot behind the abandoned sky-cars. Soon after, they saw someone running in their general direction, a Turian, as Messner's implant identified the subject. For a moment, he was glad to see someone else alive, though that turned to horror as the Turian was attacked by what seemed to be a swarm of flying insects. They saw as the Turian frantically shot its weapon at the horde until his shields failed him. Seconds after, the horde left, leaving behind the motionless body of the Turian on the street.

"Come on, we have to move." Messner said as he turned to go in the opposite direction of where the Turian was.

"What? You can't possibly mean to leave him there." It was Noli who interrupted him, as she was about to go to the Turian's aid.

Her action was cut off by Treeya, as she forcefully dragged Noli down back to their hiding spot. "He's right, there's nothing we can do for him. He's…" She paused momentarily, taking a small breath, "he's dead already. If we approach we might be discovered as well."

Noli looked at her fellow Asari, trying to come up with an excuse to refute the claim, though she seemed to be out of words as emotion overcame her. She settled to simply nod in acceptance, following the Human leading them through this ordeal.

"Hey Messner," Treeya said after some minutes of walking through the streets. The way had been too quiet, with no signs of the Collectors being around except for their ship on the sky, "How do you know that that was a Collector? The Alliance is still new to the galaxy and the Collectors are nothing but rumors told among traders." Noli looked at Messner in curiosity as well, just like Treeya had noticed, she could tell that Messner wasn't being completely forward with them.

Messner sighed mentally as he stopped, motioning for the other two to hide as well. They did so, getting within one of the building's which door was torn open. And just in time as a patrol seemed to pass by, though the Collectors forming part of it carried with them some sort of pod, while the two furthest to the back, carried with them the body of one of the colonist. Messner waited for them to pass by before sneaking a look outside, he could see their backs further down the way they had come from. Waiting a couple of seconds more, he motioned for the other two to follow.

"Remember how I told you that the Matriarch was interested in who I work for?" Messner waited a couple of seconds, unsure if Treeya nodded in acknowledgment or not, "well, we've had some run ins with the Collectors. Nothing big and we always seemed to see them just as they depart the system. Further investigation led us to believe that they deal in with the slave trade."

"The disappearances." Treeya said in realization a couple of seconds after, connecting the dots. Noli looked between them, slightly confused but still getting the main idea of what was going on.

"Exactly." They stopped again as they entered an alley littered with bodies of soldiers and deactivated mechs. The bodies, like the many others that they had seen so far, were in one state or another of paralysis. "Come on, if we can get through here, we'll be right in front of where I left my ship."

Moving through the body infested alley, they made progress towards Messner's ship at a slow pace, having to squeeze between the many bodies. At one point Noli bumped into one of the bodies, causing this one to fall on top of her. She couldn't help the scream of terror that followed as she was face to face with the paralyzed Asari, her eyes clearly moving, looking at her. Treeya, who was closest, moved the body away from Noli, while immediately covering her mouth to try and silence her.

The action was in vain as the sound of footsteps, and even some sort of ship, could be heard approaching their position.

"Fuck," Messner said, pulling both of his weapons out, "Come on. They know we are here. My ship is just half a kilometer ahead, if we run, we might still make it."

As he turned, he felt as his foot collided with something on the ground. Looking at the object, he found it to be a Phaeston rifle that was next to the body of a soldier on the ground. He looked at Treeya, who had managed to untangle Noli from the bodies and had gotten close to his position. As if on cue, shots started to pass by in their direction, while the buzzing of insects could be heard coming. In one motion, he aimed his revolver at the Collector before firing a round. He felt the heavy recoil of the gun as the bullet exited the barrel, and he saw immediately as its effects were felt by the target. The Collector's barrier flashed a bright purple as it absorbed the impact force, though the Collector was sent backwards by the amount of kinetic force on the bullet. Messner followed by with three more shots, managing to make the Collector fall to the ground as they exited the alley, taking the Phaeston rifle along a single thermal clip that he saw on the way. A couple of seconds later, the Collector stood up, his barriers recharging as it started to chase after the survivors.

The buzzing sound of flying insects approaching increased in frequency, and looking behind him, Messner could barely make out the shape of a big group approaching them. It was then that he remembered the Turian soldier outside the bar, seeing how his kinetic barriers had held out for a couple of seconds against the swarm.

"Treeya!" He said as they kept running while he fired his newly acquired Phaeston rifle, both of his pistols on their respective holsters. "Biotic barrier around us. NOW!"

"What?! I'll need a couple of seconds to do that," She said between breaths, as she ducked out of instinct when a bullet passed by too close from her for comfort, "even more if we do it on the run."

"If you haven't noticed, we don't have a couple seconds!" Messner replied in frustration as he inserted the thermal clip into the rifle. _"Just a couple more meters and we'll be there."_ He thought, "Do it now or we are dead. I don't care how you do it, just do it damn it!"

Feeling the pressure on her, Treeya looked at Noli who was running next to her, they could see the port ahead, though she knew that it wouldn't be long before the swarm reached them. "Noli, help me with the barrier." She said as she started to concentrate on her biotics. She could feel as her stamina and energy diminished, though Noli's help was helpful, it really didn't do too much of a difference on the drain it had on her body. After all, Noli was still in the process of maturing, a kid by Asari standards. In the back, Messner pulled out a thermal clip that he had for his Predator, inserting it on the rifle as he kept shooting, trying to suppress the incoming Collectors. A bullet passed by, hitting him on the shoulder and making him stumble to the ground. He picked himself up fast as he started to see a barrier materialize around both Asari, it was short on radius, but it barely had enough space to fit the three of them within.

As he stood up and kept running, with his shoulder bleeding, Messner let go of the Phaeston as it weight was slowing him down. His body and brain worked overtime, sensing the approaching danger to their existence, adrenaline was pumped into his veins, giving Messner the sufficient energy to reach both Asari as the barrier closed behind them. And just in time as the swarm of flying insects had finally caught up to them, only to crash into the barrier, disintegrating the ones that tried to pass into it. The barrier also had the benefit of serving as a shield to the incoming shots, thought it marked their position clearly for their pursuers.

The ship that they had heard earlier approached from the side, its design similar to its mother-ship, though more rectangular in shape. It was equipped with three searchlights and two mobile turrets on its front. The lights zeroed in on their location as it flew between the buildings, though its turrets did not open fire to not risk hitting the paralyzed colonists on the streets. Instead, a side door opened, revealing within three Collectors. Armed with their own version of semi-automatic rifles, they opened fire on the three still moving targets, their shots timed perfectly to not hit the frozen colonists.

Both Asari felt the strain on their biotics as more rounds crashed into the barrier, meanwhile, Messner started to feel light headed as his velocity started to fall, the result of the blood loss through his wound. In response, his implant stimulated his brain to pump in more adrenaline to keep its host moving.

"Come on! Just hold on for a couple of seconds more, we are almost there." He said as he saw the door giving access to the port. True to his word, they managed to reach the doors in a couple of seconds, the roof of the building giving them some necessary cover from the enemy dropship. The barrier around them collapsed as Noli fell to the ground exhausted, meanwhile, Treeya used her remaining strength to throw a warp at the locked door, destroying it. Messner took hold of Noli, dragging her inside as the Collectors pursuing them got closer. Feeling discomfort at having Noli reclining on his injured shoulder, Messner fought the pain off to pull up his Predator pistol and loose a couple of shots at their pursuers.

The response they got was likewise, as shots tore through the entrance and impacted the wall on the back, the three of them having ducked within a side corridor. They had a couple of seconds to regain their breath before continuing to move. Noli, who had managed to recuperate thanks to Messner's help, had noticed his wound, though choose to say nothing at the moment as he had made a motion to not do so when she looked at him. As they moved further down the corridor, taking a couple of turns, they managed to reach the landing site of the port. Multiple ships were stationed in there, and Messner easily identified his on the left side of the room.

The room was big and rectangular in shape, with smaller rectangular holes on the roof to let the ships land or depart. A couple of screens, turned off, were on the wall facing each of the landing platforms, while the opposite wall, housed a control room overlooking the room.

"Come on. It's that one over there," He said as he pointed at a rundown looking blocky ship. Both Asari looked on incredulously at Messner, not expecting him to have a junk of a ship, not that they expected much to begin with, but even they had doubt that that thing could fly in atmosphere, let alone, at FTL speeds.

The sound of echoing footsteps made the three of them move quickly towards the ship, though Messner took a small detour while telling them to keep on going. Moving towards another ship, Messner took cover behind it before pulling out his knife. "A shit, why is it always me." He lamented as he cut a piece of his shirt to make a tourniquet on his shoulder wound while cleaning the blood. His small diversion was to make their pursuers follow his blood trail towards the wrong ship. With his job done, he made his way to his ship, managing to get there just as the Collectors reached the room. He made a motion to both Asaris to take cover on the left side of the ship, letting the body of the ship cover them from sight.

"What now?" Noli murmured. It was clear that the ship was also affected by the EMP as the screen that Messner tried to access wouldn't activate.

Turning to Treeya, Messner pulled out his Predator along his single remaining thermal clip. "Take this, if worst comes to worst, we fight here."

"Wha…?" Treeya tried to say before being interrupted by Messner, "I still have a card up my sleeve darling." He murmured back, his trademark smirk on his face. He moved slightly to the back of the small ship as he searched for something.

Meanwhile, Noli and Treeya kept an eye on the Collectors on the room. Five of them seemed to have taking positions by the entrances, as they stood there like sentinels. The remaining five were spread out throughout the room, searching for them. Overhead the building, the Collector dropship made its appearance, its flashlights illuminating the hangar bays that the troopers were inspecting. Treeya was about to tell Messner to hurry up when she saw the side door open enough to let a single person through.

"Hurry, come on in." Messner said from the inside.

The Asari didn't question the how, not with the Collectors around. They moved in quickly, seeing as Messner pulled a leveler on the door, closing the entrance and leaving them in complete darkness within the ship. Outside, the Collector dropship lights zeroed in on Messner's ship, as its internal scans kept analyzing the port. When the analysis finished up, the turret on the ship moved to the side as it charged a shot, the Collectors moving out of range. Seconds after, the ship let go a small salvo, hitting one of the dropships multiple times until it exploded. The explosion triggered a secondary one on the ship next to it, causing it to explode in flames as well. The structure shook from the force of the explosion, but otherwise, it stood its ground undamaged. After a couple of seconds, the ship and the Collectors departed the room, they had lost some time with this pointless chase, but their overall objective had been completed.

Within his ship, Messner grinned as he heard the explosion, "It appears that my decoy worked." He was satisfied with his work after all.

He had been surprised when his implant had detected the scan the moment the Collectors had started analyzing the building. It had been a really easily detectable scan, but then again, with the entire planet seemingly defenseless, detection of a scan was the least of their worries.

"What did you do?" Noli asked confused at what the Human had said.

"Oh? I just simply made use of a gadget of mine. I'm afraid that I can't tell you more; after all, what's a magician with all his secrets revealed." He bowed as if he was facing an audience, though the action was lost in the dark.

"In any case, it seems like your ship still works." Treeya said with what could be distinguished as hope, "We just have to wait until they leave the planet and then we can depart to Citadel space."

"Yea, about that," Messner sighed, not sure how to break her hopes to her. Deciding on the straightforward way, he said, "The ship was affected by the EMP. The only reason I managed to open the door was due to it also having a mechanical way of doing so."

It was a rather simple thing really; the ship had a mechanical lock mechanism as well. He wasn't sure why the ship's previous owner had it, but apparently, it had something to do with an experience during the Human-Covenant war. He really hadn't seen any reason to remove the small feature, seeing as it required the use of a key that he had on his possession at all times. He had said as much when CERBERUS had retrofitted the ship to be able to do what they needed.

"I might be able to get power working on this thing in, maybe, a couple of days if we are lucky." He said as he moved to one of the crates within the ship, his implant providing him an outline of where things were.

He pulled out a couple of devices from within before activating one of them. Light emanated from it, giving them the much needed light within the ship. He set one next to the Asari, while he clinged another one on the roof of the ship and put the third one closer on the side that he was going to sit on. Moving to the pilot cabin, he looked around for a bit before finally finding the medkit that he was looking for. Coming back to where he left the lantern, he started to treat his shoulder wound, he was starting to feel the pain, as well as, the effects of blood loss as his adrenaline levels decreased.

"How?" Treeya asked, while pointing at the clearly functioning electrically devices.

"Hmm?" Messner said as he looked up at the Asari, seeing her signal to the lanterns, "Oh that. Well I had the internal walls of this ship covered by a couple layers of aluminum. Great stuff to protect things from EMPs." He said in a nonchalant form.

In truth, CERBERUS was in the process of retrofitting the hull of the ship with EMP protection, though due to Messner having to deploy urgently in a couple of mission, the retrofits hadn't been finished completely. It was just his luck that the internal walls of the ship had been retrofitted with the protection, though that still left most of the ship unshielded. The equipment that he pulled was just of military grade and had its own separate protection, thus why they still worked.

Treeya looked like she did not believe him, but Messner's grunt of pain made her look at his wound. She decided to drop the subject for now, they were safe for the moment and she needed some rest, Noli seemed to have had a similar idea, as she was already asleep, reclined on the ship's wall.

Once both Asari fell asleep, and he finished with his wound, Messner moved back towards the crate from which he had pulled out the lanterns. Pushing an internal button within the crate, the button illuminated in a red light momentarily before turning blue, the blood and fingerprint scan having been successful. A subsection on the crate opened, revealing within a pocket size device, with a miniaturized CERBERUS logo on it. Messner took the device, putting it on his pocket.

"I really hate this planet." Was the last thing he said as he followed the Asaris' example and fell asleep.

The following day, once he was sure that the Collectors were no longer on the planet, he would pull out the device as he tried to fix the ship. Turning it on, he pressed a combination of buttons on it. Once done, he would return the device to its place on the crate when the Asari weren't looking.

 **A/N: And that's another one done. This one turned out bigger than expected, thus the longer delay in the post. Anyways, I hope that you guys/girls had a wonderful winter break, and for those that didn't, well, sorry I know how it feels working on the holidays (I did so myself after all).**

 **C'Ya people, on the next one.**


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